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STERLING'S 

LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 



A NEW COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL AND SELECTED 
PIECES, IN 

POETRY, PROSE, AND DIALOGUE, 



JUVENILE SPEAKERS. 



EICHARD STEELING, A. M., 

AUTHOB OF "STERLING'S SOUTHEBN SEBIES OP SCHOOL-BOOKS." 









MACON, GA.: 

J. "W. BIJRKE <5c CO. 

New-York: Alexander Agar, 110 William Street. 

1872. 



«^N 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by 

RICHARD STERLING, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



CO^TE^TS. 



*-++ 

AUTHORS. PAGE. 

Rules for Little Speakers 9 

POETRY. 

1. Speech for a very little Boy 11 

2. Speech for a little Girl 11 

8. Speech for a little Child 12 

4. What Willie said Sidney Herbert. 13 

5. The Infant Orator 13 

6. Parody on the Infant Orator 14 

7. Two little Kittens 15 

8. Try to he a noble Man E. A. Bacon. 16 

9. Is it You ? 17 

10. The Guide Book Childrc?i's Friend. 18 

11. The Seed and the Sowers 19 

12. The World 20 

13. Hymn for a little Child Lliildren's Friend. 21 

14. The Golden Side 22 

15. Live for Something 23 

16. Virginia 23 

17. Flight of Time J. G. Percivcd. 24 

18. God bless the Farm ! 25 

19. The Roll-Call 26 

20. Voice of the Sabbath-Bell 27 

21. Mamma is in Heaven Mcuy Lennox. 28 

22. Learn a little every Day Burke's Weekly, 29 

23. Mischief-Makers 30 

24. Which Wins 31 

25. The Girl with the Calico Dress 32 

26. Ministering Spirits 33 

27. The Working-Man 34 



IV CONTENTS, 

AUTHOKS. PAGE. 

2S. Waiting for the Spring 35 

29. Present Blessings Mary Ware. 36 

30. People will Talk 37 

31. Paddle your own Canoe 38 

32. A Declamation Florence Lyndon. 40 

33. The Sword and Plow 41 

34. The Bible 42 

35. Beautiful Stream , . . 44 

36. Save the Forest 44 

37. Only Once ! and No, not Once ! 46 

38. What makes a Man 46 

39. The Snow at Fredericksburg Laura C. Redden. 4S 

40. The Conquered Banner . .Father Ryan. 49 

41. Reply to the Conquered Banner Sir Francis II. 51 

42. The South Father Ryan. 52 

43. On revisiting the Potomac Mrs. A. L. 31. 53 

44. How they had Him 54 

45. " The Glorious Fourth" J. G. Saxe. 55 

46. "The Puritans" " " 57 

47. Dirge for Ashby Mrs. M. J. Preston. 58 

48. Jack Frost Mrs. M. H. Maxwell. 59 

PROSE. 

49. Study of the Bible Rev. W. S. Plumer, D.D. 61 

50. Honesty " " " 62 

51. Beauty and Sublimity of the Bible Magie. 63 

52. Truth 63 

53. The Acquisition of Knowledge Rev. J. A. James. 64 

54. Death of General Taylor Stevens. 65 

55. Early Impressions Magie. 66 

56. Manliness in Youth 67 

57. American Liberty Hon. F. Grundy. 68 

58. La Fayette Hon. S. S. Prentiss. 68 

59. Sunday-Schools Milford Bard. 70 

60. Henry Clay Hon. J. C. Breckinridge. 71 

61. General R. E. Lee R. 0. Whitehead. 72 

62. General (Stonewall) Jackson Rev. R. L. Dabney, D.D. 73 



CONTEXTS. V 

AUTHORS. PAGE. 

63. Farewell to Hungary Kossuth. 74 

64. Industry. 75 

65. Value of Reputation C. Phillips. 76 

66. Discover}' of America Hon. E. Everett. 77 

67. The Plow Hon, Z. B. Vance. 73 

6$. Agricultural Schools Gen. W. Hampton. 79 

69. The Dignity of Labor Rev. S. C. Alexander. 80 

70. Ridicule Eev. J. A. James. 81 

71. Effects of Intemperance F. A. Boss, 82 

72. Never Despair 83 

73. Noble Words John S. Preston. 84 

74. A Tribute to Virginia Episcopal Methodist, 85 

75. Female Piety Eev. E. P. Rogers. 87 

76. The Men of the Revolution Henry W. MiOer, 88 

77. Patriotic Ambition Hon. Henry Clay. 90 

78. The South- American Republics Hon. D. Webster. 91 

79. Union under the Constitution. ..Hon. B. 31. T. Hunter. 92 

80. Washington English Paper. 93 

81. Return of the Refugees Patrick Henry. 94 

82. Woman Hon. J. Story. 95 

83. The Women of the South TJie Gray Jacket. 96 

84. Future Fame of the South Life o/Ashby. 97 

85. Prosperity of the South. . 98 

SQ. Speech by Mr. Flareup Valentine. 100 

87. Fashion , 101 

88. Strong-Minded Women Hon. Z. B. Vance. 103 

89. Liberty 105 

DIALOGUES. 

90. Learning to Read 107 

91. Some one will See Burke's Weekly. 109 

92. Being Somebody • 110 

93 . Moderate Drinking T. S. Arthur. Ill 

94. A Temperance Dialogue 114 

95. School Dialogue Student and Miscellany. 116 

96. Ellen and Mary Gospel Teacher. 118 

97. The Right of Property Fowle. 119 



VI - CONTENTS. 

AUTHORS. PAGE. 

98. Doing because others do J. G. Adams. 121 

99. The Hint N.Bntler. 124 

100. A Scene in Court Valentine. 126 

101. The Wife— a Play in three Acts 127 

102. Dialogue between a City Boy and a Country Boy 133 

ADDRESSES FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS. 

103. May Queen Burke's Weekly. 135 

104. A Salutatory Parlor Dramas. 138 

105. An Opening Address at a School Exhibition 139 

106. A Closing Address J. C. Porter. 140 

107. Address to a Teacher on presenting a Token of Love. . . 

B. 0. Whitehead. 141 

108. Address to a Teacher on presenting a Token of Respect. 

B. 0. Whitehead. 143 



PEEFAOE. 



The author was induced to undertake the prepara- 
tion of the little book now offered to the public at 
the earnest solicitations of teachers and others, who 
approved of Sterling's Southern Orator, and desired a 
work for beginners, gotten up upon the same general 
plan. 

The selections have been made to suit the most 
juvenile speakers, as well as boys of fourteen or fifteen 
years of age. Extracts have been taken from the 
speeches of our greatest orators, the thoughts of 
which can be understood by the youngest pupils, while 
the language and style are elevated and oratorical. It 
is vain to attempt to teach a child to speak well unless 
you furnish him " thoughts that breathe and words that 
burn," to excite his emotions and fire his heart. 
Besides, the effect of such pieces is to elevate the 
thoughts, and cultivate a taste for the chaste and 
elegant in language. 

The " Addresses for Special Occasions 1 ' are designed 
simply as models for those who may be called upon for 
such speeches. 

The Little Southern Orator is commended to teachers 
in our primary and intermediate schools, with the 
hope that it may meet their approval, and aid them 
in teaching declamation to the " little folks" for whose 
Use it has been prepared. 

Paris, Tenn., 1872. 



RULES FOR LITTLE SPEAKERS. 



1. Learn your speech perfectly, so that no effort will 
be necessary to remember any word. 

2. Try to understand the meaning of the author, and 
the object he had in view when he uttered the words 
you are speaking. 

3. Strive to speak as if to convince your audience 
that you want them to think as you do. 

4. Speak slowly, so that you can utter every word 
distinctly ; but do not drawl or sing your words. 

5. Do not speak as if you were talking to yourself ; 
look your audience full in the face, and speak as if you 
were telling them something important. 

6. Speak as if you were talking to those in the most 
distant part of the room. 

7. In speaking poetry, avoid all appearance of affecta- 
tion. Every syllable should have the same accent, and 
every word the same emphasis, as in prose. 

8. Always speak earnestly, in grave or gay tones, 
according to the nature of the subject. In humorous 
pieces, the speaker should not laugh. 

9. Do not repeat your words, and do not omit the 
sound of/ in of where it always sounds like v. 

10. Stand erect and hold up your head, so that you 
may utter every word and syllable with ease. 

11. In taking your place upon the stage, stand in an 
easy position ; do not twist your body about, distort 



10 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

your face, stick your hands in your pockets, or hold 
your arms in a stiff, unnatural manner. 

12. Do not be afraid of too much gesture or action, 
even taking one or two steps on the stage if the subject 
naturally suggests it. All gesture should be prompted 
by the thought and emotion. 

13. Whatever you undertake, always do it as well as 
you can. 



STERLING'S 
LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 



FOR A YERY LITTLE BOY. 

I am a very little boy 

And can not read or spell, 
But I've a lot of picture-books 
~ That I know very well. 

And I can whistle two, three tunes, 

And I can run and hop, 
And play with boys at hide and seek, 

And spin my humming-top. 

And though I'm such a little boy, 

I'll do the best I can 
To live a good and noble life, 

And be an honest man. 



SPEECH FOR A LITTLE GIRL. 

PARLOR DRAMAS. 

I never made a speech before ; 

But that's no reason why, 
Because I never spoke before, 

I ought not now to try. 



12 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

There are some silly little girls 
Who are afraid to speak, 

For fear some one will laugh at them ; 
I think this very weak. 

I hope I'll always have the sense 

To do as I am told ; 
Then people will not laugh at me, 

Or think I am too bold. 



FOR A LITTLE CHILD. 

Though I am but a little child, 
I know I ought to try each day 

To keep my temper sweet and mild, 
In every thing I do or say. 

I ought to be to others kind, 
And never say a thing untrue ; 

My teachers I should always mind, 
Whatever they may bid me do. 

Each word we say by God is heard ; 

I must not take his name in vain, 
Nor ever speak a naughty word, 

Nor stay where others talk profane. 

But I should try to learn my book, 
And love my Bible most of all ; 

That when at death I have to look, 
I then may know on whom to call. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 13 

Then let me diligently try- 
To do what's right, and mind the rule ; 
That when at last I come to die, 
My heart may bless our teacher's school. 



WHAT WILLIE SAID. 

SIDNEY HERBERT. 

Hear what a little child would say, 

Who comes to school each pleasant day, 

And tries to learn his lessons well, 
A good report at home to tell. 

I love the school, and teacher dear, 
And all the scholars gathered here ; 

To each I say in simple rhyme, 

Be careful and not waste your time. 

For moments spent in life's young day 
In useless or in thoughtless play, 

Will cast a shade o'er future years, 
And cause you many sighs and tears. 



THE INFANT ORATOR. 

You'd scarce expect one of my age 
To speak in public on the stage ; 
And if I chance to fall below 
Demosthenes or Cicero, 



14 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

Don't view me with a critic's eye, 

But pass my imperfections by. 

Large streams from little fountains flow ; 

Tall oaks from little acorns grow : 

And though I now am small and young, 

Of judgment weak, and feeble tongue, 

Yet all great learned men like me 

Once learned to read their A, B, C. 

But why may not Columbia's soil 

Rear men as great as Britain's isle, 

Exceed what Greece and Rome have done, 

Or any land beneath the sun ? 

Mayn't Louisiana boast as great 

As any other sister State ? 

Or where's the town, go far and near, 

That does not find a rival here ? 

Or where's the boy, but three feet high, 

Who's made improvements more than I ? 

These thoughts inspire my youthful mind 

To be the greatest of mankind — 

Great, not like Caesar, stained with blood ; 

But only great as I am good. 



PARODY OX THE FOREGOING. 

THE LITTLE SPEAKER. 

You'd scarce expect a boy like me 
To get up here where all can see, 
And make a speech as well as those 
Who wear the largest kind of clothes. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 15 

I think it was in olden time 
That some one said in funny rhyme, 
1 Tall aches from little toe-corns grow, 
Large screams from little children flow ;" 
And if that rhymer told the truth, 
Though I am now a little youth, 
Perhaps I'll make as great a noise 
As some who are much larger boys. 
I will not speak of Greece and Rome, 
But tell you what I've learned at home, 
And what was taught me when at school, 
While sitting on a bench or stool : 
I've learned to talk, and read, and spell ; 
And don't you think that's pretty well 
For such a little boy as I ? 
But I must leave you — so good-by. 



TWO LITTLE KITTENS. 

Two little kittens, one stormy night, 
Began to quarrel and then to fight ; 
One had a mouse, the other had none, 
And that was the way the quarrel begun. 

" I'll have that mouse," said the bigger cat. 
"You'll have that mouse ? We'll see about that 1" 
"I will have that mouse," said the elder one. 
" You sha'n't have that mouse !" said the little one. 

I told you before, 'twas a stormy night 
When these two kittens began to fight. 



16 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 



The old woman seized her sweeping broom, 
And swept the two kittens right out of the room. 

The ground was covered with frost and snow, 
And the two little kittens had nowhere to go ; 
So they laid them down on the mat at the door, 
While the old woman finished sweeping the floor. 

Then they crept in as quiet as mice, 

All wet with snow and cold as ice, 

For they found it was better that stormy night 

To lie down and sleep than to quarrel and fight. 



TRY TO-BE A NOBLE MAN. 

E. A. BACON. 

Eise, rise ! above the common level ; 

Try to be a noble man ! 
Fix your eye on some true greatness — 

You can reach it ; yes, you can. 

What if poverty surround thee ? 

What if humble birth be thine ? , 
Know the God-like powers within thee: 

Know thou art of Him divine. 

Know that God's thy loving Father, 
Know thou art an heir of heaven, 

Know that life for something noble 
Unto every mortal's given. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 11 

Then onward tread the path of virtue, 

Never yield to error's way ; 
And though dark may be thy childhood, 

Thou shalt see a fairer day. 

Onward press thy way to greatness, 

Never give the struggle o'er ; 
Adverse winds may blow against* thee, 

But thou'lt reach the longed-for shore. 

Honor, joy, and peace shall crown thee, 
Wreathe thy brow with garlands bright, 

Sure reward of all who travel 
In the glorious path of right. 



IS IT YOUI 

There is a child — a boy or girl, 

I'm sorry it is true — 
Who doesn't mind when spoken to : 

Is it you ? It can't be you ? 

I know a child — a boy or girl, 

I'm loth to say I do — 
Who struck a little playmate child : 

I hope that wasn't you. 

I know a child — a boy or girl, 
I hope that such are few — 

Who told a lie — yes, told a lie ! 
It can not be 'twas you ! 



18 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

There is a boy — a boy I know ; 

I can not love him, though — 
Who robs the little birdie's nest : 

But, sure it is not you ! 

A girl there is — a girl I know, 
f And I could love her too, 
But that she is so proud and vain ; 
That surely is not you ! 



THE GUIDE BOOK. 

children's friend. 

Little traveler, gayly starting 

On the pilgrimage of life, 
Knowest thou the way before thee 

Is with many a danger rife ? 

Knowest thou that snares and pitfalls 
Line the broad and flowery way, 

And that midnight darkness often 
Closes o'er the brightest day ? 

Wouldst thou learn where lurk the dangers, 

Where the hidden pitfalls lie, 
Where and when the tempests gather 

O'er the bright and smiling sky ? 

There's a Guide Book that will tell thee 

All the dangers of the road, ( 
And will surely lead thy footsteps 

To a safe and blest abode. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 19 

'Tis God's holy word, the Bible ; 

Like a lamp thy feet 'twill light 
Through all earthly storms and dangers, 

Through the darkest earthly night. 

Read it, then, and ponder on it ; 

Hide its teachings in thy heart ; 
Shape thy conduct by its counsels ; 

Never from its law depart. 



THE SEED AXD THE SOWERS. 

Ever so little the seed may be, 

Ever so little the hand ; 
But when it is sown, it must grow, you see, 
And develop its nature, weed, flower, or tree ; 
The sunshine, the air, and the dew are free 

At its command. 

If the seed be good, we rejoice in hope 

Of the harvest it will yield. 
We wait and watch for its springing up, 
Admire its growth and count on the crop 
That will come from the little seeds we drop 

In the great, wide field. 

But if we heedlessly scatter wide 

Seeds we may happen to find. 
We care not for culture or what may betide, 
We sow here and there on the highway side ; 
Whether they've lived or whether they've died, ; 

We never mind. 



20 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

Yet every sower must one day reap 

Fruit from the seed he has sown. 
How carefully, then, it becomes us to keep 
A watchful eye on the seed, and seek 
To sow what is good, that we may not weep 
To receive our own. 



THE WORLD. 



Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful world ! 
AYith the wonderful water round you curled, 
And the wonderful grass upon your breast — 
World, you are beautifully dressed. 

The wonderful air is over me, 
And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree ; 
It walks on the water, and whirls the mills, 
And talks to itself on the tops of the hills. 

You friendly earth, how far do you go 

With the wheat-fields that nod and the rivers that flow, 

With cities and gardens, and cliffs and isles, 

And people upon you for thousands of miles ? 

Ah ! you are so great, and I am so small, 
I tremble to think of you, world, at all ; 
And yet, when I said my prayers to-day, 
A whisper inside me seemed to say, 
" You are more than the earth, though you are such a dot 
You can love, and think, and the earth can not." 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 21 

HYMN FOR A LITTLE CHILD. 

children's friend. 

God, whose home is in the sky, 
Far above the sun so high, 
Far above the moon so bright, 
And the stars which shine at night ; 
Thou art very near to me, 
Though I can not look on Thee. 

Yet I know it was thy hand 
Formed the earth whereon I stand — 
Made the grass, the flower, the tree, 
Every thing I love to see ; 
Thou didst make them all to raise 
Even little children's praise. 

Though thy home is far away, 
Thou dost watch me night and day ; 
Thou canst hear my feeble tongue 
Sound above the angels' song, 
When they bow their golden wings 
Unto thee, great King of kings. 

I would love and praise thee too, 
As the holy angels do ; 
Thank thee for thy mercies given, 
Pray to guide my way to heaven, 
And to join the glorious hymn 
Chanted by the seraphim. 



LTTTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 



THE GOLDEN SIDE. 

There is many a rest in the road of life, 

If we only would stop to take it ; 
And many a tone from the better land, 

If the querulous heart would make it ! 
To the sunny soul that is full of hope, 

And whose beautiful trust ne'er faileth, 
The grass is green and the flowers are bright, 

Though the wintry storm prevaileth. 

Better to hope, though the clouds hang low, 

And to keep the eyes still lifted ; 
For the sweet blue sky will soon peep through, 

When the ominous clouds are rifted ! 
There was never a night without a day, 

Or an evening without a morning ; 
And the darkest hour, as the proverb goes, 

Is the hour before the dawning. 

There is many a gem in the path of life, 

Which we pass in our idle pleasure, 
That is richer far than the jeweled crown, 

Or the miser's hoarded treasure ; 
It may be the love of a little child, 

Or a mother's prayers to heaven, 
Or only a beggar's grateful thanks 

For a cup of water given. 

Better to weave in the web of life 

A bright and golden filling, 
And to do God's will with a ready heart, 

And hands that are swift and willing, 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 23 

Than to snap the minute delicate threads 

Of our curious lives asunder 
And then blame Heaven for the tangled ends, 

And sit and srrieve and wonder. 



LITE FOR SOMETHING. 

Live for something ; be not idle, 
Life is passing swift away ; 

Have a purpose, true and noble, 
Live it in thy walk each day. 

Live for something ; lif e^ a warfare, 

Buckle on thine armor strong ; 
And this saying ever cherish, 
" Right will triumph over wrong." 

Live for something ; be not idle- 
Help the needy in thy land ; 

God will note each act and pay thee, 
Doubly pay thee from his hand. 



VIRGINIA. 



Virginia bleeds and weeps for woe, 
But feels no touch of shame ; 

Beneath eclipse her glories glow 
With undiminished flame. 



24 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

A virgin queen with laurel crown, 

A sovereign of the free, 
She vows to trample tyrants down 

And bleeds for liberty. 

Not always thus shall droop her head, 

She will rejoice again ; 
No blood so pure for freedom shed 

Was ever shed in vain. 
An altar every battle-field 

On which her sons have died ; 
Its smoke, like incense, has appealed 

Where right is ne'er denied. 



FLIGHT OF TIME. 

J. G. PERCIVAL. 

Faintly flow, thou falling river, 

Like a dream that dies away ; 
Down the ocean gliding ever, 

Keep thy calm, unruffled way ! 
Time with such a silent motion 

Floats along on wings of air, 
To eternity's dark ocean, 

Burying all its treasures there. 

Roses bloom and then they wither; 

Cheeks are bright, then fade and die ; 
Shapes of light are wafted hither — 

Then, like visions, hurry by ; 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 25 

Quick as clouds at evening driven 

O'er the many-colored west, 
Years are bearing us to heaven — 

Home of happiness and rest. 



GOD BLESS THE FAKM ! 

God bless the farm — the dear old farm ! 

God bless it, every rod — 
Where willing heart and sturdy arm 

Can earn an honest livelihood ! 
Can from the coarse but fertile soil 
Win back a recompense for toil. 

God bless each meadow, field, and nook, 
Begemmed with fairest flowers ! 

And every leaf that's gently shook 

By evening breeze or morning showers. 

God bless them all ! each leafs a gem 

In nature's gorgeous diadem. 

And may he bless the farmer's home, 
Where peace and plenty reign ! 

No happier spot 'neath heaven's high dome 
Doth this broad, beauteous earth contain, 

Than where, secure from care and strife, 

The farmer leads a peaceful life. 



26 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 



THE ROLL CALL. 

They carried hira gently to the rear, 
The bravest of the brave ; 
11 Mortally wounded," the surgeon said ; 
" Nothing his life can save." 



Darkness had shrouded the field in gloom, 
Where many a loved one slept, 

And tearful comrades bending low, 
O'er many forms had wept. 

Suddenly up from the couch where he lay, 

At midnight calm and clear, 
The voice of the wounded boy was heard 

To answer loudly, " Here !" 



" What can I do ?" the surgeon said, 
And quickly rushed to his side. 

" Nothing, doctor ; they were calling roll 
In heaven, and I replied." 

He turned his head, his eye grew dim, 
Not a sigh, not a stifled groan ; 

But when the surgeon whispered again, 
His spirit had sweetly flown. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 27 



TOICE OF THE SABBATH BELL. 

Attend, attend ! with iron tongue, 

To you, O man ! I call ; 
To you, whose hopes of earthly bliss 

"Were ruined by the fall. 

Attend ! for Jesus Christ the Lord 

To you proclaims his love ; 
The wondrous grace that brought him down 

From his bright home above. 

Does earthly friendship ever wake 

Within your heart a thrill ? 
And gratitude, does it abide 

Beneath your bosom still ? 

Then by the mercies of your God, 

(If gratitude you prize,) 
Your bodies and your spirits yield 

A living sacrifice. 

Oh ! haste. Such icondrous, wondrous grace 

You may not always slight ; 
For soon life's fleeting day must end 

In death's long dreamless night. 



Be wise, ere death shall call you hence, 
And I shall toll your knell ; 

For in the land of changeless woe, 
There peals no Sabbath bell. 



28 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 



MAMMA IS EN HEAYEN. 

MARY LENNOX. 

Tell us of mamma, sister dear, 
Say why she left her darlings here ; 

We'll dry our eyes, and shed no tear, 
If you'll talk of her, sister dear — 

Of mamma in heaven. 

How do you know that world is fair ? 

And how do you know mamma is there ? 
Does she a golden crown now wear, 

Over her soft, bright, curly hair, 

In heaven ? 

Come near me, sister and brother, 

And I'll tell you of our mother, 
"Who said, we must love each other, 

When she left home, for another 

In heaven. 

She told me of that happy land, 
Its pearly gates, and angel band, 

Who sweetly sing with harps in hand, 
As round the throne of God they stand 

In heaven. 

I knew it was lovely and fair, 

Before God called our mother there ; 

But 'tis fairer now, and will wear 
A brighter look since she is there, 

In heaven. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 29 

She's gone from us, and nevermore 
Will soothe our little hearts below ; 

But we can to our mother go ; 

She waits us on the shining shore, 

In heaven. 

She sees from that bright home on high, 
Brother, sister, baby, and I, 

And is pleased to know each will try- 
To meet her above yon blue sky, , 

In heaven. 



LEARX A LITTLE EVERY DAY. 

BURKE' S WEEKLY 

Little rills make wider streamlets, 

Streamlets swell the rivers' flow; 
Rivers join the ocean billows, 

Onward, onward as they go. 
Life is made of smallest fragments, 

Shade and sunshine, work and play ; 
So may we, with greatest profit, 

Learn a little every day. 

Tiny seeds make boundless harvests, 

Drops of rain compose the showers, 
Seconds make the flying minutes, 

And minutes make the hours. 
Let us hasten, then, and catch them, 

As they pass us on our way ; 
And with honest, true endeavor, 

Learn a little every day. 



30 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

Let us read some striking passage, 

Cull a verse from every page ; 
Here a line, and there a sentence, 

'Gainst the lonely time of age. 
At our work, or by the wayside, 

While the sun shines, making hay ; 
Thus we may, by help of Heaven, 

Learn a little every day. 



MISCHIEF-MAKERS. 

Oh ! could there in this world be found 
Some little spot of happy ground 
Where village pleasures might go round 

Without the village tattling ! 
How doubly blest that place would be 
Where all might dwell in liberty, 
From all the thousand perils free 

Of gossip's endless prattling ! 

If such a spot were really known, 
Dame Peace might claim it as her own, 
And in it she might fix her throne 

Forever and forever ; 
There like a queen might reign and live, 
Where every one would soon forgive 
The little slights they might receive, 

And be offended never. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 31 

Oh ! that the mischief -making crew 
"Were all reduced to one or two, 
And they were painted red and blue, 

That every one might know them ; 
Then would the village soon forget 
To rage and quarrel, fume and fret, 
And fall into an angry pet 

With things too much below them. 

For it's a sad, degrading part, 
To make another's bosom smart, 
And plant a dagger in the heart 

We ought to love and cherish. 
Then let us evermore be found 
In quietness with all around, 
While friendship, joy, and peace abound, 

And angry feelings perish. 



WHICH WINS I 



This sighing after beauty, 
This longing after curls, 

This chasing after fashion 
Wherever fashion whirls, 

And all that sort of thing, 

May do for those who like it, 
For those devoid of taste ; 

For those who barter diamonds off 
For diamonds made of paste • 
And other blockheads. 



32 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

But to the wife who truly loves, 
Who is what she appears ; 

Who sheds a sunshine round the man 
Who keeps away her tears — 

And brings her taters home — 

I'd whisper softly in her ear, 
I'd grave it onher heart, 

That well to know to broil a steak 
Beats sentiment and art 
A plagued sight ! 



THE GIRL WITH THE CALICO DRESS. 

A fig for your upper-ten girls, 

With their velvets and satins and laces, 
Their diamonds and rubies and pearls, 

And their milliner figures and faces ; 
They may shine at a party or ball, 

Emblazoned with half they possess ; 
But give me, in place of them all, 

My girl with the calico dress. 

She is plump as a partridge, and fair 

As the rose in its earliest bloom ; 
Her teeth will with ivory compare, 

And her breath with the clover perfume ; 
Her step is as free and as light 

As the fawns whom the hunters hard press, 
And her eye is as soft and as bright — 

My girl with the calico dress. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 33 

She is cheerful, warm-hearted, and true, 

And is kind to her father and mother ; 
She studies how much she can do 

For her sweet little sister and brother ; 
If you want a companion for life, 

To comfort, enliven, and bless, 
She is just the right sort of a wife — 

My girl with the calico dress. 



MINISTERING SPIRITS. 

Why come not spirits from the realms of glory, 

To visit earth, as in the days of old — 
The times of sacred writ and ancient story ? 

Is heaven more distant, or has earth grown cold ? 

To Bethlehem's air was their last anthem given, 
When other stars before the One grew dim ? 

Was their last presence known in Peters prison, 
Or where the exulting martyrs raised their hymn ? 

And are they all within the vail departed ? 

There gleams no wing along the empyrean now ; 
And many a tear from human eyes has started, 

Since angel touch has calmed a mortal brow. 

No ! earth has angels, though their forms are moulded 
But of such clay as fashions all below ; 

Though harps are wanting, and large pinions folded, 
We know them by the love-light on their brow. 



34: LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

I have seen angels by the sick one's pillow ; 

Theirs was the soft tone and the soundless tread ; 
Where smitten hearts were drooping like the willow, 

They stood "between the weeping and the dead." 

There have been angels in the gloomy prison, 
In crowded halls, by the lone widow's hearth ; 

And where they passed, the fallen have uprisen, 
The giddy paused, the mourner's hope had birth. 

Oh ! many a spirit walks on earth unheeded, 
That, when its vail of sadness is laid down, 

Shall soar aloft with pinions unimpeded, 
And wear its glory like a starry crown ! 



THE WORKING-MAN. 

The noblest men I know on earth 

Are men whose hands are brown with toil ; 
Who, backed by no ancestral groves, 

Hew down the wood and till the soil ; 
And win thereby a prouder name 
Than follows king's or warrior's fame. 

The working-men, whate'er the task, 
Who carve the stone or bear the hod, 

They bear upon their honest brows 
The royal stamp and seal of God ; 

And worthier are their drops of sweat 

Than diamonds in a coronet. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 35 

God bless the noble working-men ! 

Who rear the cities of the plain, 
Who dig the mines, who build the ships, 

And drive the commerce of the main. 
God bless them ! for their toiling hands 
Have wrought the glory of all lands. 



WAITING FOR THE SPRING. 

As breezes stir the morning, 

A silence reigns in air ; 
Steel-blue the heavens above me, 

Moveless the trees and bare ; 
Yet unto me the stillness 

This burden seems to bring — 
" Patience ! the earth is waiting. 

"Waiting for the spring." 

Strong ash and sturdy chestnut, 

Rough oak and poplar high, 
Stretch out their sapless branches 

Against the wintry sky. 
Even the guilty aspen 

Hath ceased her quivering, 
As though she, too, were waiting, 

Waiting for the spring. 

I strain mine ears to listen, 
If haply where I stand 

But one stray note of music 
May sound in all the land. 



36 LITTLE SOUTHERN" ORATOR. 

Why art thou mute, O blackbird ? 

O thrush ! why dost thou not sing I 
Ah ! surely they are waiting, 

Waiting for the spring. 

O heart ! thy days are darksome ; 

O heart ! thy nights are drear ; 
But soon shall streams of sunshine 

Proclaim the turning year ; 
Soon shall the trees be leafy, 

Soon every bird shall sing ; 
Let them be silent waiting, 

Waiting for the spring. 



PRESENT BLESSINGS. 

MARY WARE. 

When laughing winds amid the bowers 

Strew roses by the way, 
Don't wait to gather brighter flowers, 

But cull them while you may. 

When smiling skies above are spread, 

And balmy breezes play, 
Then be thy soul to beauty wed ; 

'Twill not be always May. 

While angels linger round thy heart, 

To guide its erring way, 
Oh ! hearken ; lest they should depart, 

And learn while yet 'tis day. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN" ORATOR. 37 

When noble thoughts within thy soul 

Are struggling^ for the right, 
Up through the muck and mire of sin, 

To catch the blessed light, 

Oh ! do not choke them back again, 

And rudely shut the door ; 
The music of that sweet refrain 

May never reach thee more. 



PEOPLE WILL TALK. 

We may go through the world, but 'twill be very slow 
If we listen to all that is said as we go ; 
We'll be worried and fretted and kept in a stew, 
For meddlesome tongues must have something to do ; 

For people will talk, you know ; 

Oh ! yes, they must talk, you know. 

If quiet and modest, you'll have it presumed 

That your humble position is only assumed ; 

You're a wolf in sheep's clothing, or else you're a fool ; 

But don't get excited — keep perfectly cool. 

If generous and noble, they'll vent out their spleen 
You'll hear some loud hints that you're selfish and mean ; 
If upright and honest, and fair as the day, 
They'll call you a rogue in a sly, sneaking way. 

And then if you show the least boldness of heart, 
Or evince a desire to take your own part, 
They'll call you an upstart, conceited and vain ; 
But keep straight ahead and don't stop to explain. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 



If threadbare your coat or old-fashioned your hat, 
Some one, of course, will take notice of that, 
And hint rather strong that you can't pay your way ; 
But don't get excited, whatever they say. 

If you dress in the fashion, don't think to escape, 
For they criticise then in a different shape ; 
You're ahead of your means or your tailor's unpaid ; 
But mind your own business, there's naught to be made. 

They'll talk well before you, but then at your back 
Of venom and slander there's never a lack ; 
How kind and polite in all that they say ; 
But bitter as gall when you're out of the way. 

Yet these are called Christians (O God ! save the mark !) 
Who smile in the sunlight and stab in the dark ; 
Who pilfer the jewel God gave to mankind, 
And leave but their sting and its venom behind. 

The best way to do, is ,to do as you please ; 
For your mind and your body will then be at ease ; 
Of course you will meet with all kinds of abuse ; 
But don't try to stop them — it an't any use. 



"PADDLE YOUR OWN CANOE." 

Voyager upon life's sea, 

To yourself be true, 
And where'er your lot may be, 

Paddle your own canoe. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 39 

Never, though the winds may rave, 

Falter, nor look back ; 
But upon the darkest wave 

Leave a shining track. 



Every wave that bears you on 

To the silent shore, 
From its sunny source has gone, 

To return no more. 
Then let not an hour's delay 

Cheat you of your due ; 
But, while it is called to-day, 

Paddle your own canoe. 

If your birth denied you wealth, 

Lofty state and power, 
Honest fame and hardy health 

Are a better dower. 
But if these will not suffice, 

Golden gain pursue ; 
And to gain the glittering prize, 

Paddle your own canoe. 

Nothing great is lightly won, 

Nothing won is lost ; 
Every good deed, nobly done, 

Will repay the cost. 
Leave to Heaven, in humble trust, 

All you will to do ; 
But if you succeed, you must 

Paddle your own canoe. 



40 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

A DECLAMATION. 

ARRANGED FROM TUPPER. 
FLORENCE LYNDON. 

boys and girls of every age ! 
With loving souls within you, 

A simple word for each and all, 

A word to warn and win you. 
YouVe each one got a human heart, 

As well as human features, 
To hear me while I take the part 

Of all the poor dumb creatures. 

1 know your lot is somewhat rough, 

But theirs is something rougher ; 
No hopes, no loves, but pain enough, 

And only sense to suffer. 
Now, girls and boys, you've friends and joys, 

And homes and hopes in measure, 
But these poor brutes are only mutes, 

And hardly know a pleasure. 

A little water, oats, and hay, 

And sleep, the gift of heaven — 
How great returns for these have they 

To your advantage given ! 
Their mouths are mute, but most acute 

The woes whereby you wear them ; 
80 learn of me, and quickly see 

How easy tis to spare them ! 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 4l 



THE SWORD AND PLOW. 

There was once a count, so I've heard it said, 
Who felt that his end drew near ; 

And he called his sons before his "bed, 
To part them his goods and gear. 

He called for his plow, he called for his sword, 

That gallant, good and brave ; 
They brought them both at their father's word, 

And thus he his blessing gave : 

M My first-born son, my pride and might, 
Do thou my sword retain ; 
My castle on the lordly height, 
And all my broad domain. 

u On thee, my well-loved younger boy, 
My plow I here bestow ; 
A peaceful life shalt thou enjoy 
In the quiet vale below." 

Contented sank the sire to rest, 

Now all was given away ; 
The sons held true his last behest, 

Each to his dying day. 

Now tell us what came of the steel of flame, 

Of the castle and its knight ; 
And tell us what came of the vale so tame, 

And the humble peasant wight. 



42 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

" Oh ! ask not of me what the end may be ; 
Ask of the country round ! 
The castle is dust, the sword is rust, 
The height is but desert ground. 

" But the vale spreads wide in the golden pride 
Of the autumn sunlight now ! 
It teems and it ripens far and wide, 
And the honor abides with the plow." 



THE BIBLE. 



This holy book is all divine, 

To man in mercy given ; 
Its truths, all radiant and benign, 
With beams of living lustre shine, 

And gild the path to heaven. 

Upon this life's uneven way, 

As we are swiftly driven, 
It sheds a bright, celestial ray, 
It points to an eternal day, 

And bids us strive for heaven. 

If grief's dark shadow o'er us fall, 

Like sable robe of even, 
If gloomy doubts the heart appall, 
How sweet the cheering accents fall- 
Look up, 'tis bright in heaven I 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 43 

It smooths the anguish of the heart, 

By sin and sorrow riven ; 
Its rays divine sweet peace impart, 
Allay the poisoned inward smart, 

And whisper, Pure is heaven. 

When earthly friends and comforts die, 

How blest the promise given ! 
It shows a home beyond the sky, 
And bids us Abba, Father, cry 

To Him who is in heaven. 



To all who in its truths confide, 

A hope divine is given ; 
That they through grace shall firm abide, 
And every threatening storm outride, 

And rest at last in heaven. 



What though the surging billows roar ? 

What though by tempest driven ? 
The raging storm will soon be o'er, 
And they shall reach that peaceful shore, 

Where shines the light of heaven. 

And when the earth is vailed in gloom, 

When mouldering graves are riven, 
Then rising from the opening tomb, 
Arrayed in life's immortal bloom, 
With songs ascend to heaven. 



44 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR, 



BEAUTIFUL STUEAM. 

Oh ! have ye not heard of that beautiful stream 
That flows from our Father's land ? 

Its waters gleam bright in the heavenly light, 
And ripple o'er golden sand. 

With murmuring sound does it wander along 

Through fields of eternal green, 
Where songs of the blest in their haven of rest 

Float soft on the air serene. 

Its fountains are deep and its waters are pure, 

And sweet to the weary soul ; 
It flows from the throne of Jehovah alone ; 

Oh ! come where its bright waters roll. 

This beautiful stream is the river of life, 

It flows for all nations free ; 
A balm for each wound its waters are found, 

O sinner ! it flows for thee. 

Oh ! will you not drink of that beautiful stream, 

And dwell on its peaceful shore ? 
The Spirit says come, all ye weary ones, home, 

And wander in sin no more. 



SATE THE FOREST! 

Save us the forest! Already is done 
More mischief than time can restore, 

And most of the landmarks of boyhood are gone 
We can not, we will not lose more. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 45 

If foresters past could but rise from the dead 

To look on the scenes they had known, 
They would look with amazement ; their forest is fled, 

And the pride of its glory is gone. 

Save us the forest ! that children may roam, 

Or gambol in innocent glee ; 
Their shouts shall ring loudly 'neath heaven's high dome, 

Telling all that the forest is free. 
ISTo carpet of Turkey or Brussels, whose ply 

The loom of the cunning one weaves, 
With nature's own loomwork one moment can vie — 

The forest's soft carpet of leaves. 

Oh ! save us the forest ! the toiling ones cry 

Who dwell 'mid the smoke and the heat ; 
In the long summer's sunshine delighted we fly 

Away from the alley and street. 
From anvil and hammer, from counter and pen, 

Too seldom, alas ! can we stray ; 
We need such a refuge from Babylon's din — 

Then save us the forest, we pray. 

Oh ! save us the forest ! the home of the birds, 

Whose plumage beflowers each spray, 
Discoursing sweet music, like love's thrilling words, 

From dawn till the closing of day. 
The oak and the ivy, the ash and the fern, 

No hand of the spoiler should seize ; 
The castle and mansion are buildings of men, 

But the buildings of God are the trees. 



46 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 



ONLY ONCE! AND NO, NOT ONCE! 

" Only once I" the tempter said, with smiling lip. 
Tempted thus, the young man took the fatal sip : 
And time passed on. Hush ! gently tread ; 
Death guards this night the drunkard's bed ! 

u Only once !" the tempter said, with winning voice. 
Seizing the box, the young man threw the rattling 

dice : 
And time passed on. What can earth have 
More sad than this — a gambler's grave ? 

" No, not once !" the young man said, and rising up, 
Wavering not, he pushed aside the sparkling cup : 
And time passed on. No nobler fame 
Has earth than his — an honored name. 

" No, not once !" the youth exclaimed, and turned away 
Others filled his place, and joined the exciting play : 
And time passed on. How lived that boy 
A father's pride, a mother's joy ! 



WHAT MAKES A MAN I 

Not numerous years, nor lengthened life, 
Not pretty children and a wife ; 
Not pins and chains and fancy rings, 
Nor any such like trumpery things ; 
Not pipe, cigar, or bottled wine, 
Nor liberty with kings to dine ; 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 47 

Nor coat, nor boots, nor yet a hat, 
A dandy vest, a trim cravat ; 
Nor mister, reverend, sir, nor squire, 
"With titles that the memory tire ; 
Nor ancestry, traced back to Will, 
Who went from Normandy to kill ; 
Not Latin, Greek, nor Hebrew lore, 
Nor thousand volumes rambled o'er ; 
Not judge's robe, nor mayor's mace, 
Nor crowns that deck the royal race : 
These all united never can 
Avail to make a single man. 

A truthful soul, a loving mind, 
Full of affection for its kind ; 
A helper of the human race, 
A soul of beauty and of grace ; 
A spirit firm, erect, and free, 
That never basely bends the knee ! 
That will not bear a feather's weight 
Of slavery's chain, for small or great ; 
That truly speaks of God within, 
And never makes a league with sin ; 
That snaps the fetters despots make, 
And loves the truth for its own sake ; 
That worships God, and him alone ; 
That trembles at no tyrant's nod — 
A soul that fears no one but God ; 
And thus can smile at curse and ban ; 
That is the soul that makes the man. 



48 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

THE SNOW AT FREDERICKSBURG. 

LAURA C. REDDEN. 

Drift over the slopes of the sunshine land, 

O wonderful, wonderful snow ! 
Oh ! pure as the breast of the virgin saint, 

Drift tenderly, soft and slow, 
Over the slopes of the sunrise land, 

And into the haunted dells 
Of the forests of pine, where the sobbing winds 

Are tuning their memory bells : 

Into the forests of sighing pines, 

And over those yellow slopes 
That seem but the work of the cleaving plow, 

But cover so many hopes. 
^They are many indeed, and straightly made, 

Not shapen with loving care ; 
But the souls let out, and the broken blades, 

May never be counted here. 

Fall over those lonely hero graves, 

O delicate, dropping snow ! 
Like the blessings of God's unfaltering love, 

On the warrior heads below ; 
Like the tender sigh of a mother's soul, 

As she waiteth and watcheth for one 
Who will never come back from the sunrise land, 

"When this terrible war is done. 

And here, where lieth the high of heart, 

Drift, white as the bridal vail 
That will never be worn by the drooping girl 

Who sitteth afar, so pale : 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 49 

Fall, fast as the tears of the suffering wife, 

Who stretcheth despairing hands 
Out to the blood-rich battle-fields 

That crimson the eastern sands. 

Fall in thy virgin tenderness, 

O delicate snow ! and cover 
The graves of our heroes, sanctified, 

Husband, and son, and lover. 
Drift tenderly over those yellow slopes, 

And mellow our deep distress, 
And put us in mind of the shriven souls 

And their mantles of righteousness. 



THE CONQUERED BANNER 

FATHER RYAN. 

Furl that banner ! for 'tis weary ; 
Round its staff, 'tis drooping dreary ; 

Furl it, fold it — it is best ; 
For there's not a man to wave it, 
And there's not a soul to save it, 
And there's not one left to lave it, 
In the blood which heroes gave it ; 

Furl it, hide it, let it rest. 

Take that banner down ! 'tis tattered ; 
Broken is its staff, and shattered ; . 
And the valiant hosts are scattered, 

Over whom it floated high : 

4 



50 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

Oh ! tis hard for us to fold it, 
Hard to think there's none to hold it, 
Hard to those who once unrolled it, 
Now must furl it with a sigh. 

Furl that banner ! furl it, sadly ; 
Once ten thousands hailed it gladly, 
And ten thousands, wildly, madly, 

Swore it should forever wave ; 
Swore that foeman's sword could never 
Hearts like theirs entwined dissever, 
Till that flag should float forever 

O'er their freedom or their grave. 

Furl it ! for the hands that grasped it, 
And the hearts that fondly clasped it, 

Cold and dead, are lying low ; 
And that banner, it is trailing, 
While around it sounds the wailing 

Of its people in their woe. 

For though conquered, they adore it ; 
Low the cold, dead hands that bore it ; 
Weep for those who fell before it, 
Pardon those who trailed and tore it, 
But oh ! wildly they deplore it, 
Now, who furl and fold it so. 

Furl that banner ! true 'tis gory, 
Yet 'tis wreathed around with glory, 
And 'twill live in song and story, 

Though its folds are in the dust ; 
For its fame on brightest pages 
Penned by poets and by sages, 
Shall go sounding down the ages — 

Furl its folds though now we must. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 51 

Furl that banner, softly, slowly ; 
Treat it gently — it is holy ; 

For it droops above the dead. 
Touch it not — unfold it never, 
Let it droop there — furled forever, 
For its people's hopes are dead. 



"REPLY TO THE CONQUERED BANNER." 

SIR FRANCIS H , OF ENGLAND. 

Gallant nation, foiled by numbers, 
Say not that your hopes are fled ; 

Keep that glorious flag, that slumbers, 
One day to avenge your dead. 

Keep it widowed — sonless — mothers ; 
Keep it, sisters, mourning brothers ; 
Keep it with an iron will. 
Think not that its work is done ; 
Noble banner, keep it still. 

Keep it till your children take it, 
Once again to wave and make it 
All their sires have bled and fought for — 
All their noble souls have wrought for ; 
Bled and fought for all alone ! 

All alone ! ay, shame the story, 
Millions here deplore the stain : 

Shame, alas ! for England's glory — 
Freedom called, and called in vain. 



52 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

Furl that banner, sadly, slowly ; 
Treat it gently — for 'tis holy — 
Till that day ; yes, furl it sadly, 
Then once more unfurl it gladly, 
" Conquered banner" — keep it still. 



"THE SOUTH." 

FATHER RYAN. 



Yes, give me the land where the ruins are spread, 
And the living tread light on the hearts of the dead ; 
11 Yes, give me a land that is blest by the dust, 
And bright with the deeds of the down-trodden just ; 
Yes, give me the land where the battle's red blast 
Has flashed on the future the form of the past ; 
Yes, give me the land that hath legends and lays, 
That tell of the memories of long vanished days ; 
Yes, give me the land tliat hath story and song ; 
To tell of the strife of the right with the wrong ; 
Yes, give me a land with a grave in each spot, 
And names in the graves that shall not be forgot ; 
Yes, give me the land of the wreck and the tomb, 
There's grandeur in graves — there's glory in gloom, 
For out of the gloom future brightness is born ; 
As after the night looms the sunrise of morn, 
And the graves of the dead with the grass over-grown, 
May yet form the footstool of liberty's throne, 
And each simple wreck in the way-path of might, 
Shall yet be a rock in the temple of right." 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 55 

But when, to make the matter straight, 
I went up to negotiate 

Affairs with Colonel Cadniy, 
He said he " didn't care to sell," 
He told me I might go to — well, 

And that was where he had me. 

I drowned my sorrow in the cup 
Until I got my dander up, 

(I couldn't have been madder ;) 
When she proposed that we be one 
In spite of pa — the thing was done, 

And that was where I had her. 

Two lovely urchins on my knee 
I'm proud to say belong to me, 

(That is, to me and madam ;) 
For when we left our native sod, 
We spent a year or two abroad — 

And there was where we had 'em. 



• »• 



"THE GLORIOUS FOURTH." 

JOHX G. SAXE. 

Don't let me rouse unreasonable fears, 
While I, like Brutus, ask you for your ears ; 
Bear as you can the transient twinge of pain, 
In half an hour you'll have them back again. 

We're a vast people — that's beyond a doubt- 
And nothing loth to let the secret out ! 



56 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

Vain were his labors who should now begin 

To stop our growth, or fence the country in ! 

Let the bold skeptic who denies our worth, 

Just hear it proved on any " Glorious Fourth," 

"When patriot tongues the thrilling tale rehearse 

In grand orations or resounding verse ; 

When poor John Bull beholds his navies sink 

Before the blast, in swelling floods of ink, 

And vents his wrath till all around is blue, 

To see his armies yearly flogged anew ; 

While honest Dutchmen, round the speaker's stand, 

Forget, for once, their dearer fatherland ; 

And thrifty Caledonians bless the fate 

That gives them freedom at so cheap a rate, 

And a clear right to celebrate the day, 

And not a baubee for the boon to pay ; 

And Gallia's children prudently relieve 

Their bursting bosoms with a loud u vive" 

For " L'Amerique," as when their voices swell 

With equal glory for " La bagatelle ;" 

And ardent sons of Erin's blessed isle, 

Grow patriotic in the Celtic style, 

And, all for friendship, bruise each other's eyes, 

As when Saint Patrick claims the sacrifice ; 

While thronging Yankees, all intent to hear, 

As if the speaker were an auctioneer, 

Swell with the theme, till every mother's son 

Feels all his country's magnitude his own. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 57 



"THE PURITANS/' 

JOHX G. SAXE. 

You'll hear about that sturdy little flock 
Who landed once on Plymouth's barren rock, 
Daring the dangers of the angry main, 
For civil freedom and for godly gain ; 
An honest, frugal, hardy, dauntless band, 
Who sought a refuge in this western land, 
Where, (if their own quaint language I may use 
That carried back the first colonial news,) 
u Where all the saints may worship as they wish, 
And catch abundance of the finest fish !" 
You'll hear, amazed, the hardships they endured, 
To what untold privations were inured ; 
What wondrous feats of stout, herculean toil, 
Ere they subdued the savage and the soil, 
And drave, at last, the intruding heathen out, 
Till witches, Quakers, all were put to rout ! 
'Tis little marvel that their honored name 
Bears, as it must, some maculae of shame ; 
'Tis only pity that they e'er forgot 
The golden lesson their experience taught ; 
Thought " toleration" due to " saints'' alone, 
And " rights of conscience*' only meant their own ! 
Enforcing laws, concocted to their need, 
On all nonjurors to the ruling creed, 
Till Baptists groaned beneath their iron heel, 
And Quakers quaked with unaccustomed zeal ! 
And when I hear, as oft the listener may 
In song or sermon on a festal day, 
Their virtues lauded to the wondering skies, 



58 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

As none were e'er so great, or good, or wise, 
I straight bethink me of the Irish wit, 
(A people famed for many a ready hit,) 
Who, sitting once, and rather ill at ease, 
To hear, in prose, such huge hyperboles, 
Gave for a toast, to chide the fulsome tone, 
" Old Plymouth Rock — the Yankee Blarney-Stone ! " 



DIRGE FOR ASHBT. 

EXTRACTED. MRS. M. J. PRESTON. 

Heard ye that thrilling word — 

Accent of dread ! 
Fall like a thunderbolt, 

Bowing each head ? 
Over the battle dun — 
Over each booming gun — 
Ashby, our bravest one I 

AsJiby is dead ! 

Saw ye the veterans — 
Hearts that had known 

Never a quail of fear, 
Never a groan — 

Sob 'mid the fight they win, 

Tears their stern eyes within ? 

Ashby, our paladin ! 

Ashby is dead ! 
* * * * 

Bold as the Lion-heart — 
Dauntless and brave ; 



LITTLE SOUTHERN" ORATOR. 59 

Knightly as knightliest 

Bayard could crave ; 
Sweet with all Sidney's grace, . 
Tender as Hampden's face — 
"Who, who shall fill the space 

Void by his grave ? 

'Tis not our broken heart — 

Wild with dismay, 
Crazed in her agony — 

Weeps o'er his clay ! 
Ah ! from a thousand eyes 
Flow the pure tears that rise — 
Widowed Virginia lies 

Stricken to-day ! 



JACK FROST. 

MRS. M. H. MAXWELL. 

Oxe winter night, 

A saucy wight 
Came whistling at my door ; 

I heard him say, 

" Admit, I pray, 
This stranger cold and poor." 

Said I, " Retire ; 

My scanty fire 
Is sinking in the grate ; 

You see, my dear, 

The case is clear, 
That you have come too late l n 



60 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

" O dear I" said he, 

" Some charity 
I beg you to bestow ; 

Peep out and see 

Me bow my knee 
Upon the drifted snow." 

" Whence did you come ? 

Where is your home ? 
Just hear the north wind blow ! 

Don't stop tonbbw 

But tell me now 
Does your mother know you're out ?" 

u No," he replies, 

" In strange disguise 
I passed along the moor ; 

The keen wind blows, 

Then do not close 
Your door against the poor I" 

This plaintive moan 

My pity won, 
And so I turned the key^ 

The door flung wide, 

I quaking cried, 
" The stranger — where is he 2" 

I felt a grip 

On hand and lip, 
But saw no human form ; 

Was it a kiss ? 

Then love like this 
Is not exceeding warm. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 61 

I called again, 

But called in vain ; 
I saw no stranger there, 

No scrip or staff, 

But heard a laugh 
Upon the stinging air. 

" The case is clear, 
My little dear," 
The merry laugher said, 

" That you have froze ( 

Your pretty nose, 
And you'd better go to bed I 

" But learn this truth, 
In early youth, 
Nor be the lesson lost : 

You never must , 

A moment trust 
That saucy rogue — Jack Frost." 



M l 



STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 

REV. W. S. PLTJMER. 

The study of the Bible is a great matter. That 
holy book treats of God, of man, of time, of eterni- 
ty, of heaven, and of hell. It speaks only truth on 
all matters. He who knows the Bible well, may be 
wise and good and happy, though he never sees any 
other book. The Bible is full of truths, even of the 
greatest truths. As there is no god like the true 



62 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

God, so there is no book like God's book. It does 
more good in the world than all other books beside. 
All, whose hearts were not wicked, have found it 
sweeter than honey, and more precious than gold. 



HONESTY. 

REV. W. S. PLUMER. 

To live honestly, is to live justly and above re- 
proach. It is to live so that no man can truly say 
any harm of us. Nothing is honest that is against 
truth or honor. . . . - 

We must take our rules of justice and honor from 
the Bible. It is not right for us to do a thing 
merely because others do it. Many men do very 
sinfully. If we follow them in sin, we shall be 
guilty before God. Nor is it enough for us to do 
what is honest in the sight of God alone. We 
must "provide things honest in the sight of all 
men." We must not only do right, but we must 
seem to do right. We must not let our good be 
evil spoken of. If ever a truly honest man makes 
a bad bargain, he will stick to it, though to his own 
hurt. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 63 

THE BEAUTY AND SUBLIMITY OF THE BIBLE. 

MAGIE. 

This is a matter that can not fail to arrest the 
attention of every man of taste and refinement. ^0 
room for discrepancy of opinion exists here. The 
language of the Bible, its sweet imagery, its kind 
entreaties, its grand conceptions, its bold appeals, 
and its touching pathos, can never be sufficiently 
admired. It unites in the most perfect degree both 
the tender and the terrible, the mild and the majes- 
tic. In these respects, all the sages and orators of 
antiquity are left in the background. We must 
turn to the writings of shepherds, fishermen, and 
tent-makers for the highest and purest specimens 
of eloquence. The sublimity of the Bible is not 
that of the language merely, but of the emotion, 
the conception, and the thought. Compared with 
the loftiest flights of uninspired genius, it towers 
like a mighty mountain above the adjoining hills. 



TRUTH. 

Truth is the foundation of virtue. An habitual 
regard for it is absolutely necessary. He who 
walks by the light of it, has the advantage of the 
midday sun ; he who would spurn it, goes forth 
amid clouds and darkness. There is no way in 



64: LTTTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

which a man strengthens his own judgment, and 
acquires respect in society so surely, as by a strict 
regard to truth. The course of such an individual 
is right on, and straight on. He is no changeling, say- 
ing one thing to-day and another to-morrow. Truth 
to him is like the mountain land-mark to the pilot. 
He fixes his eye on a point that does not move, and 
enters the harbor with safety. On the contrary, 
one who despises truth and loves falsehood, is like 
a pilot who takes a piece of drift-wood for his land- 
mark, which changes with every changing wave. 
On this he fixes his attention, and being insensibly 
led from his course, he strikes upon some hidden 
rock, and sinks to rise no more. Thus truth brings 
success ; falsehood results in ruin and contempt. 



THE ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE. 

REV. J. A. JAMES. 

My young friends, cultivate a taste for the acqui- 
sition of knowledge ; thirst after information as the 
miser does after wealth ; treasure up ideas with the 
same eagerness as he does pieces of gold. Let it 
not be said, that for you the greatest of human 
beings have lived, and the most splendid of human 
minds have written, in vain. You live in a world of 
books, and they contain worlds of thought. Devote 
all the time that can lawfully be spared from busi- 



LITTLE SOUTHERN OIIATOK. 65 

ness to reading. Lose not an hour. Ever have 
some favorite author at hand, to the perusal of 
whose productions the hours and the half-hours 
which would otherwise be wasted might be de- 
voted. Time is precious. Its fragments, like those 
of diamonds, are too valuable to be lost. Let no 
clay pass without attempting to gain some new 
idea. Your first object of existence should be the 
salvation of your soul; the next, the benefit of your 
fellow-creatures; and then comes the improvement 
of the mind. 



DEATH OF GENERAL TAYLOR. 

STEVENS. 

General Taylor is dead ! The bold soldier, the 
devoted patriot, the upright president, is dead ! 
But it is his body only that is dead. That which 
vivified his form, which lit up his eye, which spoke 
out from his tongue ; that which made him what he 
was — the soul — that is not dead ! 

" In the blank silence of the narrow tomb, 

The clay may rest which wrapped his human birth ; 

But, all unconquered by that silent doom, 
The spirit of his thought shall walk the earth, 

In glory and in light." 

His deeds are not dead. That soldierly prowess, 
5 



QQ LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

which marked his conduct in three sanguinary 
wars ; which won for him laurels in youth, as well 
as garlands in old age; those great achievements 
on the tented field, beneath the moated wall, and in 
the nation's cabinet — these are not dead. Those 
deeds are written in his country's annals — are a part 
of his country's glory, and shall live while a page 
of history remains. 



EAELY IMPRESSIONS. 

MAGIE. 

"Whatever may be said of the latter stages of 
life, its commencement will have traces never to be 
worn out. The intellect is now taking a shape, and 
the affections receiving a texture, and the individual 
acts turning into habits which, if somewhat modi- 
fied by after scenes and impressions, are seldom 
very essentially changed. This is the point from 
which men start, and it generally determines their 
whole future course. Here the path is entered upon 
which leads to virtue or vice, honor or infamy, 
heaven or hell. Let the mother of John Newton 
take her little son to her closet for prayer; let 
Doddridge be taught Scripture history, when a child, 
by the pictures on the chimney-tiles ; let Buchanan, 
when a boy, wander into a church where Jesus is 
preached, and the effect remains. All the agents in 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 



these tender transactions — parents, friends, minis- 
ters — may be sleeping in their graves, but their 
work endures. 



MANLINESS IX YOUTH. 

ARRANGED. 

" Be strong, and show thyself a man !" was the 
last exhortation of David to his son when about to 
ascend the Jewish throne. The same admonition is 
well worthy the attention of every youth in our 
land. It carries with it the idea that there are ser- 
vices for each to perform, advantages for each to 
improve, and excellences for each to gain. To be 
men, honest and faithful men, true to our Maker, to 
our own destiny, and to the land in which our lot is 
cast, is the noblest purpose we can form — the high- 
est achievement we can make. It is important to 
realize this at the very outset. 

Much is demanded at the hands of every Ameri- 
can youth. The land of our fathers' sepulchres calls 
upon us to stand fast by her true interests, and to 
see to it that no evil befalls her, which our good 
character and honest zeal can avert. This world of 
ours, groaning over the effects of the grand aposta- 
sy, stretches out her imploring hands, and asks us 
to help forward the day of her deliverance. Above 
all, the God who made us stoops from his throne in 
heaven and beckons so to fight the good fight that 
we may receive the crown which " the Lord, the 



68 LIITLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

righteous Judge, will give us at that day." Oh ! can 
we, will we, dare we, be any thing but men ? 



AMERICAN LIBERTY. 

HON. F. GRUNDY. 

If ever the liberties of America are lost, the last 
battle will be fought upon this floor — in all time to 
come, here will be found some American Catos, who 
will be ready to say with the good old patriot Ro- 
mans, " We will hold it out and fight it to the last ;" 
heaven and earth shall witness, if America must 
fall, that we are innocent. Yes, Mr. President, 
when the Goddess of Liberty shall find no resting- 
place in the executive mansion, when the spirit of 
anarchy or despotism shall expel her from the other 
end of the Capitol, she will still linger in and about 
this chamber, unwilling to be gone ; and when 
compelled to take her final flight from our land, the 
last impress of her feet will be on the top of the 
canopy which overshadows the American Senate. 



LA FAYETTE. 

S. S. PRENTISS. 



The youth of every country will be taught to 
look upon his career and follow in his footsteps ; 
and when, hereafter, a gallant people are fighting 



LITTLE SOUTHERN" ORATOR. 69 

for freedom against the stern oppressor, and their 
cause begins to wane before the mercenary bands 
of tyranny, then will the name of La Fayette be- 
come a watchword, that will strike with terror on 
the tyrant's ear, and nerve with redoubled vigor 
the freeman's arm. At that name will many a 
heart, before unmoved, wake in the glorious cause, 
and many a sword, rusting ingloriously in its scab- 
bard, leap forth to battle. And even amid the 
mourning with which our souls are shrouded, is 
there not some room for gratulation? Our de- 
parted friend and benefactor has gone down to the 
grave, peacefully and quietly, at a good old age. 
He had performed his appointed work. His virtues 
were ripe. He had done nothing to sully his fair 
fame. No blot or soil of envy or calumny can now 
affect him. His character will stand upon the pages 
of history pure and unsullied as the lilied emblem 
on his country's banner. He has departed from 
among us ; but he has become again the companion 
of Washington. He has but left the friends of his 
old age to associate with the friends of his youth. 
Peace be to his ashes ! Calm and quiet may they 
rest upon some vine-clad hill of his own beloved 
land ! And it shall be called the Mount Vernon of 
France. And let no cunning sculpturer, no monu- 
mental marble, deface with its mock dignity the 
patriot's grave ; but rather let unpruned vine, the 
wild flower, and the free song of the uncaged bird 



70 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

— all that speak of freedom and of peace be gathered 
around it. La Fayette needs no mausoleum. His 
fame is mingled with a nation's history. His epi- 
taph is engraved upon the hearts of men. 



SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

MILFORD BARD. 

Mr. Chairman : Who are the men who advocate 
the establishment of Sunday-schools throughout the 
great and growing West ? Who are those who are 
in favor of cherishing the germs of genius now scat- 
tered over the prairies of the great valley of the 
Mississippi ? They are the most illustrious states- 
men and heroes our State or republic hath produced ; 
some of the most eloquent and eminent divines en- 
rolled in the cause of Christianity. The men of 
various sects and creeds, men whose only ambition 
is to fix the permanency of our institutions on the 
firm foundation of education and liberty. They are 
men of piety and patriotism. They are men who 
look with delight upon the temple of our devotion 
as it kisses the clouds and dips its head in heaven ; 
but they will never agree that the flag of our 
freedom shall move from its w r alls. The cause 
of education is the cause of Christianity and of our 
country. The cause of Sabbath-schools is advocat- 
ed by the great and the good ; by the wise and the 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 71 

wealthy. Ay, a voice from the sages of the past — 
a voice from the gory graves of the Revolution — a 
voice from the sepulchres of the saviours of our 
country, and a voice from the vault of Vernon come 
stealing on the Sabbath silence, approbating the 
grand and glorious enterprise. 



HENRY CLAY, 

HON. J. C. BRECKINRIDGE. 

While the youth of America should knit a' lis 
noble qualities, they may take courage from his 
career, and note the high proof that, under our 
equal institutions, the avenues to honor are open to 
all. Mr. Clay rose by the force of his own genius, 
unaided by power, patronage, or wealth. At an 
age when young men are usually advanced to the 
higher schools of learning, provided only with the 
rudiments of an English education, he turned his 
steps to the West, and, amidst the rude collisions of 
a border life, matured a character whose highest 
exhibitions were destined to mark eras in his coun- 
try's history. Let the generous youth, fired with 
honorable ambition, remember that the American 
system of government offers on every hand boun- 
ties to merit. If, like Clay, orphanage, obscurity, 
poverty, shall oppress him ; yet if, like Clay, he 
feels the Promethean spark within, let him remem- 



V2 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

ber that his country, like a generous mother, ex- 
tends her arms to welcome and to cherish every 
one of her children whose genius and worth may- 
promote her prosperity or increase her renown. 



GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE. 

R. O. WHITEHEAD. 

We are called upon to speak of General Robert 
E. Lee. We shrink from the task, and feel that all 
we dare say is, We love him. 

Words from any but the most gifted intellect, 
that are written to associate themselves with the 
name of Lee in the future, will seem but insipid and 
meaningless, when contrasted with the felt grandeur 
and nobility of his character, which unborn millions 
will experience, but to which no tongue can give 
expression. 

Great as a soldier, great as a sage, great as a 
Christian. Though partisan hate may exclude him 
from the amnesty extended to his fellow-country- 
men, this will but furnish another example of the 
distinguished honor which prejudice unconsciously 
renders as a tribute to human worth. No conclave 
of lost spirits can by any resolve shake the eternal 
pillars of virtue and truth ; no human combination 
can sully the spotless reputation of Lee. Pure and 
calm as the ether of heaven, his fame rests secure far 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 73 

above the pitiful rage of malice or the storms of 
earthly change. He is perpetually enshrined as the 
noblest of heroes in the grateful hearts of millions 
who yet live, and he shall be pointed to in coming 
ages as the brightest example of manly virtue that 
can be imitated by millions yet unborn. 



GENERAL (STONEWALL) JACKSON. 

REV. R. L. DABXEY, D.D. 

How is it that General Jackson has stimulated 
the imagination, not only of his own countrymen, 
but of the civilized world, above alL the sons of 
genius among us ? How has he, the most unroman- 
tic of great men, become the hero of a living 
romance, the ideal of an inflamed fancy, even before 
his life had been invested with the mystery of dis- 
tance? How did that calm eye kindle the fire of 
so passionate a love and admiration in the heart of 
his people ? He was brave ; but not the only brave. 
He revealed transcendent military talent ; but the 
diadem of his country glowed with a galaxy of such 
talent. He was successful ; but it had more than 
one captain whose banner never stooped before an 
enemy. The solution is chiefly to be found in the 
singleness, purity, and elevation of his aims. Every 
one who observed him was as thoroughly convinced 
of his unselfish devotion to duty as of his courage. 



74 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

It was no more evident that his was a soul of cour- 
age, than that no thought of personal advancement, 
of ambition, or applause ever for one instant divided 
the homage of his heart with his great cause, and 
that " all the ends he aimed at were his country's, 
his God's, and truth's." 



FAREWELL TO HUNGARY. 

KOSSUTH. 

Farewell, my beloved country ! Farewell, land 
of the Magyars ! Farewell, thou land of sorrow ! 
I shall never more behold the summit of thy moun- 
tains. My last looks are fixed upon my country, 
and I see thee overwhelmed with anguish. I look 
into the future, but that is overshadowed. 

Land of my love, thou art in slavery ! From 
thy very bosom will be forged the chains to bind 
all that is sacred. I hoped for thee even in the 
dark moment when on thy brow was written the 
withering word, Despair. I lifted my voice in thy 
behalf when men said, " Be thou a slave !" 

My principles have not been those of Washing- 
ton, nor my acts those of Tell. I desired a free 
nation — free as man can not be made but by God. 
And thou art fallen ; faded as the lily. The united 
forces of powerful nations have dug thy tomb ; the 
withering grasp of tyranny has seized upon thy 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 



vitals ; and O my country ! the blighting curse of 
oppression is upon thee. 



INDUSTRY. 

Be brisk, energetic, prompt, and industrious. The 
world is full of boys, and men too, who drag through 
life and never decide any thing for themselves, or 
accomplish any thing in the world. Such people 
are the dull stuff of the earth. We live in a land 
of industry and enterprise. It has been strikingly 
said, that " here, as nowhere else, we subdue and 
replenish the earth. We plant corn in the very 
path lately trod by the buffalo of the wilderness ; 
we gather wheat on the spot where the Indian 
council-fire but recently burned ; we build cities 
almost as by oriental enchantment ; we raise mil- 
lions of money for the purposes of popular educa- 
tion ; we voluntarily support thousands of churches 
and ministers, and, what is more, we send preachers 
and printing-presses and Bibles to the dwellers in 
distant lands." What a picture! Yes, and all 
this by a people that, two centuries and a half ago, 
had no existence. Examples of successful industry 
are innumerable. Had you been in Philadelphia 
less than a century and a half ago, and met a poor 
boy, friendless and alone, with a roll of bread under 
his arm, inquiring for work in a printing-office, you 
could hardly have imagined that a lad so forlorn 



76 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

would ever come to rank among the philosophers of 
the day — be an ambassador to a foreign country, 
and actually stand before kings. Yet all this was 
achieved by Benjamin Franklin. What a testimo- 
ny to the value of diligence in business ! 



VALUE OF REPUTATION. 

C. PHILLIPS. 

O divine, O delightful legacy of a spotless repu- 
tation! Rich is the inheritance it leaves, the ex- 
ample it testifies ; pure, precious, and imperishable 
the hope which it inspires ! Can there be conceived 
a more atrocious injury than to filch from its pos- 
sessor this inestimable benefit — to rob society of its 
charm and solitude of its solace ; not only to outlaw 
life, but to attaint death, converting the very grave, 
the refuge of the sufferer, into the gate of infamy 
and of shame ! I can conceive of but few crimes 
beyond it. He who plunders my property takes 
from me that which can be repaired by time ; but 
what period can repair a ruined reputation ? He 
who maims my person affects that which medicine 
may remedy ; but what herb has sovereignty over 
the wounds of slander? He who ridicules my 
poverty, or reproaches my profession, upbraids me 
with that which industry may retrieve and integrity 
may purify ; but what riches shall redeem a bank- 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 77 

rapt fame ? What power shall blanch the sullied 
snow of character? There can be no injury more 
deadly. There can be no crime more cruel. It is 
without remedy — without antidote — without eva- 
sion. 



DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 

EDWARD EVERETT. 

No chapter of romance equals the interest of the 
expedition of Columbus. The departure from Palos, 
where a few years before he had begged a morsel 
of bread and a cup of water for his way-worn child ; 
his final farewell to the old world at the Canaries ; 
his entrance upon the trade-winds, which then for 
the first time filled a European sail ; the portentous 
variation of the needle, never before observed ; the 
fearful course westward and westward, day after 
day, and night after night, over the unknown ocean ; 
the mutinous and ill-appeased crew ; at length 
the tokens of land — the cloud-banks on the western 
horizon, the logs of drift-wood, the fresh shrub 
floating with its leaves and berries, the flocks of 
land birds, the shoals of fish that inhabit shallow 
water, the indescribable smell of the shore, the 
mysterious presentiment that ever goes before a 
great event — and finally, on that ever memorable 
night of the 12th of October, 1492, the moving light 
seen by the great discoverer himself, from the deck 



7S LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

of the Santa Maria, and in the morning the real, 
undoubted land, swelling up from the bosom of 
the deep, with its plains, and hills, and forests, and 
rocks, and streams, and strange new races of men 
— these are incidents in which the authentic story 
of the discovery of our continent excels the specious 
wonders of romance as much as gold excels tinsel, 
or the sun in the heavens excels the glimmering 
taper. 



THE PLOW. 



HON Z. B. VANCE. 



From the earth, directly or indirectly, comes all 
the wealth of man, whether it be in flocks upon the 
hills, in palaces within the city, or in ships upon the 
sea. In this prolific and never-failing source alone, 
must be laid the foundations of our regeneration, 
and the plow is the great instrument with which it 
is to be effected. The oldest born, the simplest and 
most beneficent of inventions, the father and king 
of all the implements of man, upon it depends all of 
agriculture, of manufactures, of commerce, and of 
civilization. Remembering this, it will be your first 
and last great duty, whether as legislators or as 
private citizens, to encourage, foster, and protect 
labor upon the soil ; being assured when it prospers, 
that all other desirable things shall be added. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 79 



AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS. 

GENERAL W. HAMPTON. 

Germany especially, which owes so much to her 
admirable system of education, has found these 
schools of incalculable benefit, and many of the 
Northern and "Western States, profiting by the ex- 
ample of the older nations, have them now in suc- 
cessful operation. We of the South have been and 
are woefully behind the age in this particular ; for, 
as far as I am aware, our colleges, wiih two excep- 
tions, offer no facilities for the acquisition of a prac- 
tical agricultural or mechanical education. One of 
these exceptions is found in a most admirable college, 
fitly located on the former farm of Kentucky's great 
statesman, Henry Clay. No nobler monument 
could be erected on Ashland to the genius and 
patriotism of the illustrious man who once owned it. 
The other honorable exception is to be found in 
Washington College, Va., where the hero who has 
so often led a mighty army to victory, having 
sheathed the sword never tarnished by cruelty or 
dishonor, now dedicates his name, his intellect, and 
the influence of his spotless virtue to the noble task 
of leading our sons along the paths of learning, of 
honor, and of piety. The example set here is wor- 
thy of imitation; and if agricultural colleges can 
not be founded in all of the Southern States, it 
would be well to engraft on the curriculum of all 



80 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

our existing institutions of learning a department 
similar to that just organized at Washington Col- 
lege. 



THE DIGNITY OF LABOR. 

REV. S. C. ALEXANDER. 

One of the great ends for which man was created 
is, that he should be a laborer. He was constituted 
for this physically, mentally, and morally. Labor 
is a fixed law of man's nature, and an element of his 
happiness. He was thus constituted in Eden, and 
not as a consequence of the fall. If labor is one of 
the ends for which man was created, and a primal 
law of his nature, it is highly praiseworthy, honor- 
able, and dignified ; and to disregard this end and 
law, is to set God at defiance. Honest labor is 
honorable and dignified for the highest reasons. 
God has commanded it. 

Heretofore agricultural labor and learning have 
been separated, and this is one great source why 
such labor has been regarded by certain classes as 
disgraceful. Nothing can be more injurious to pro- 
gress in agriculture than this baneful hallucination. 
At the South, this mistaken sentiment must be got 
rid of. Our necessities, not to mention our pros- 
perity, demand it. Young men must be educated 
to honor labor, and to dignify it in its actual per- 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 81 

formance. To accomplish this, we must have a 
change in our educational system. The man who 
does not honor labor, shows a lack of brains ; he is 
an enemy to his own and his country's welfare. 
Like the senseless Nero, he would fiddle while 
Rome was burning ; or like a more illustrious one of 
late, he would tell a little anecdote while his coun- 
try was dying 



RIDICULE. 



REV. J. A. JAMES. 



Ridicule is certainly not the test of truth ; but it 
is one of the most fiery ordeals of that courage by 
which the truth is professed and supported. Many 
have been vanquished by scorn, who were invulner- 
able to rage ; for men in general would much rather 
have their hearts reproached than their heads, deem- 
ing it less disgraceful to be weak in virtue than 
deficient in intellect. Strange perversion ! the 
effect of that pride which, being injected into our 
nature by the venom of the serpent in paradise, 
still continues to infect and destroy us. Let us 
oppose this working of evil within us, and crucify 
this affection and lust of the flesh. Let no ridicule 
deter us from doing what is right or avoiding what 
is wrong. Let us emulate the sublime example of 
the apostle, who exclaimed, "We are fools for 
6 



82 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

Christ's sake." This is the noblest effort of human 
courage, the loftiest achievement of virtue, to be 
" faithful found amongst the faithless " and willing 
to bear any reproach rather than act in opposition 
to the convictions of our judgment and the dictates 
of our conscience. 

Neither in little things nor in great ones suffer 
your dread of singularity to turn your feet from the 
path of integrity. Arm yourselves with this mind, 
to do what is right, though you can find neither 
companion nor follower. 



EFFECTS OF INTEMPERANCE, 

F. A. ROSS". 

Ten thousand men die annually from the effects 
of ardent spirits. Some are killed instantly ; some 
die a lingering, gradual death ; some commit sui- 
cide ; and some are actually burned up with internal 
fire ! Ten thousand drunkards go every year from 
this land to the bar of God ! Ten thousand drunk- 
ards annually swell the army of the fearful, and 
unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and 
idolaters, and liars which have their part in the lake 
that burneth with fire and brimstone ; which is the 
second death ! Who can tell the misery of the one 
hundred and fifty thousand paupers, more than half 
of whom owe their degradation to intemperance ? 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 83 

Who can count the widows and orphans, made so 
by the intemperance of husbands and fathers ? 
Who can estimate the wounded spirits of extended 
relatives? Who can sum up the wealth thrown 
away, and the millions wasted for this terrible 
poison? Go to the jail and the mad-house, filled 
with the victims of strong drink, if you would form 
even a faint idea of the ravages of intemperance, 
and the moral leprosy which has streaked society 
with its spots, redder and more indelible and infec- 
tious than those which polluted the house of Israel ! 
Then, if you would save our land and race from 
the curse of drunkenness, banish ardent spirits from 
your houses. Do not drink them — do not sell them 
— do not make them, and we shall become a sober 
people. 



KETER DESPAIR! 



EXTRACTED. 



Never despair ! no, never ! When obstacles 
oppose, and your pathway seems hedged up, nothing 
is gained by supineness and inaction. Courage, 
patience, and energy will surmount difficulties that 
seem insurmountable. " There is a silver lining to 
every cloud," and He who wove it knows when to 
turn it out. The noblest qualities of man are not 
developed in prosperity. Any bark may glide in 



84 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

smooth water, with a favoring gale ; but that is a 
brave, skillful oarsman who rows up-stream, against 
the current, with adverse winds, and no cheering 
voice to encourage him to press onward. So with 
the truly brave and self-reliant; misfortunes only 
stimulate to exertion, and often develop powers 
hitherto dormant. It is glorious to battle on with 
a brave heart, when cowering timidity turns trem- 
bling back. When one human reed after another 
breaks or bends beneath you, lean on the " Rock of 
Ages." The great Architect passes you through 
the furnace but to purify. The narrow path may 
be thorny, but the " promised land" lies beyond. 
The clusters of hope may be seen with the eye of 
faith ; your hand shall yet grasp them ; your eyes 
revel, from the mountain top, over the green pas* 
tures and still waters of peace. Tou shall yet un- 
buckle your dusty armor, while soft breezes shall 
fan your victorious brow. Then never despair ! 



NOBLE WORDS. 

JOHN S. PRESTON. 



Gentlemen, my pleadings are done. They are 
the pleadings of a white-haired exile, returned amid 
the dying glow of autumn, that by the light of its 
gorgeous sunset he may see what the younger and 
heroic sons of our mother are doinsj to restore their 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 85 

mangled and desecrated parent. " They made the 
world a solitude, and called it peace." " They 
bound us in chains, and called it peace." But such 
peace as it is we must submit, half -naked, bending 
our knees to pass under the yoke. It is all we can 
do. For one, the authors of this peace have taken 
from me my wealth, my children, my country — 
which is Virginia — and the rights and privileges 
which Virginia gave me. You have come here to 
gather up our mother's shreds and fragments. Bind 
with hooks of steel those which will give you 
strength and hope. Send the plow and the line 
over the waste places, where the enemy strewed the 
salt and the ashes ; for all the rest, compose them 
decently, and amid solemn rites, your women strew- 
ing pale white flowers, commit them to that history 
which records that Virginia was the mother of 
George Washington and Robert Lee. 



• ♦ * 

A TRIBUTE TO VIRGINIA. 

EPISCOPAL METHODIST. 

Axd yet amidst all this desolation and ruin, did 
the world ever see any thing like the uncomplaining 
dignity with which the South has borne a hideous 
vivisection that left it at the time but a ghastly 
semblance of life ? We confess that not all the 
magnificent valor that won her thousand victories ; 



86 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

not the fiery onset of Jackson's Scotch-Irish, nor 
the superb composure with which Lee directed the 
advancing tide of battle, or covered the slow and 
sullen retreat, has ever so electrified and melted our 
whole souls as the sublime fortitude with which the 
South has borne unspeakable woes. 

" The Niobe of nations — there she stands, 
Childless and crownless in her voiceless woe. 
An empty urn within her withered hands, 
Whose holy dust was scattered long ago." 

ISTor is this all. The Virginia thus treated, the 
" lone Mother of Empires," is also the mother of 
that Union from which she has been kept out a 
leper, and only admitted now under the most ty- 
rannical and most exasperating conditions. The 
corner-stone of this grand constitutional fabric was 
laid by the hand of the giant who now stands at 
the threshold of the temple, his hair shorn, his eyes 
put out, and for the present making sport for the 
Philistines. It is Virginia, that proud old colony, 
which, having no quarrel of her own with the King 
of England, yet took up, from generous sympathy, 
the cause of Massachusetts ; Virginia, but for whose 
Washington the Revolutionary War would have 
been a disastrous failure ; whose Jefferson wrote 
the Declaration of Independence ; whose Patrick 
Henry roused the nation to arms with his fiery elo- 
quence ; whose Marshall was the glory of American 



LITTLE SOUTHERN" ORATOR. 87 

jurisprudence; whose Madison, Monroe, Harrison, 
and Taylor adorned the executive chair; whose 
Winfield Scott and Rough and Ready were the 
leading figures of the Mexican War ; whose states- 
men have illustrated the councils as her soldiers the 
camps of the republic — this is the good old com- 
monwealth which for five long years has been 
ground to the earth under the heel of military vas- 
salage, and is now only permitted to enter the edi- 
fice which she made by her own hands, and adorned 
and immortalized by her genius and virtue from its 
foundation to its pinnacle, as a captive and a slave. 



FEMALE PIETY. 



REV. E. P. ROGERS. 



" If there is one sight more than any other in 
this world of sin and sorrow which combines all the 
elements of beauty, of nobleness, and of worth, it is 
that of a young and lovely female, whose youth 
and beauty, whose depth and richness of affection, 
and whose powerful influence on human hearts are 
all consecrated to the cause of truth and holiness, 
laid as a humble offering at the Saviour's feet ! 
Such a being is indeed worthy the reverence and 
admiration of every true and noble heart ; and she 
will command it, even when the light of beauty is 
quenched, and the flower of her loveliness is faded. 



88 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

But if there is a sad, heart-breaking sight on earth, 
it is that of one gifted with all the charms which 
nature lavishes upon her daughters, prostituting 
them upon the altar of vanity or fashion, and starv- 
ing the soul on the world; running a giddy round 
of gayety, frivolity, and dissipation ; laying up in 
i;he future a cheerless and forsaken old age, and a 
miserable, remorseless eternity. 

" ' Oh ! what is woman ? What her smile, 

Her lips of love, her eyes of light ? 
What is she, if those lips revile 

The lowly Jesus ? Love may write 
His name upon her marble brow, 

And linger on her curls of jet ; 
The light spring flowers may meekly bow 

Before her tread — and yet — and yet 
Without that meeker grace, she'll be 

A lighter thing than vanity !' " 



THE MEN OF THE REVOLUTION. 

HENRY W. MILLER. 

Look too at the conflict of our own revolutiona- 
ry fathers. With but three millions of population, 
without munitions of war, without credit, without 
regularly educated military leaders, for years with- 
out foreign aid — poor, friendless, with none to suc- 
cor and few to sympathize, with domestic enemies 
scattered through the land they were endeavoring 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 89 

to defend — the men of the Revolution rushed into 
a conflict with the then most powerful nation of the 
world — the mistress of the seas — who had proudly- 
conquered on a thousand battle-fields; who had 
humbled France, that for half a century had stood 
the arbitress of Europe ; with a commerce that had 
swept the seas, and a revenue and credit as inex- 
haustible as her power. Such was the antagonist 
of a few weak, scattered colonies. Our fathers met 
with disasters, and faced dangers. Philadelphia, 
New- York, Norfolk, Charleston, Wilmington, Sa- 
vannah, Richmond — yea, every town and city of 
importance, was at the mercy of the enemy. Every 
State was overrun — Georgia, South-Carolina, and 
other States were crushed by the power of the 
enemy. Defeat followed defeat in quick succes- 
sion. Our little army, without clothing, barefoot- 
ed — armed mostly with shot-guns — without effective 
artillery ; the blood from their naked feet marking 
the frozen ground as they marched ; fighting one 
day, and retreating from a victorious enemy the 
next — with every thing to dispirit them! Still 
those brave men f ought on. They never permitted 
a feeling of despair to have a moment's resting- 
place in their bosoms. They knew no such word as 
surrender. Their giant souls, animated by the 
eternal voice of truth, and the heaven-born aspi- 
rations for freedom and justice, never wavered, 
never faltered, but drove from them, as they would 



90 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

have discarded dishonor and degradation, every 
suggestion of despair, however dim or distant. 
Sustained by this indomitable spirit, their efforts 
were at last crowned, by the God of battles,* with 
victory ! 



PATRIOTIC AMBITIOX. 



HOX. HEXEY CLAY. 



I have no desire for office, not even the highest. 
The most exalted is but a prison, in which the in- 
carcerated incumbent daily receives his cold, heart- 
less visitants, marks his weary hours, and is cut off 
from the practical enjoyment of all the blessings of 
genuine freedom. I am no candidate for any office 
in the gift of the people of these States, united or 
separated; I never wish, never expect to be. Pass 
this bill, tranquillize the country, restore confidence 
and affection in the Union, and I am willing to go 
home to Ashland, and renounce public service for- 
ever. I should there find, in its groves, under its 
shades, on its lawns, amidst my flocks and herds, in 
the bosom of my family, sincerity and truth, attach- 
ment and fidelity, and gratitude, which I have not 
always found in the walks of public life. Yes, I 
have ambition ; but it is the ambition of being the 
humble instrument, in the hands of Providence, to 
reconcile a divided people ; once more to revive 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 91 

concord and harmony in a distracted land; the 
pleasing ambition of contemplating the glorious 
spestacle of a free, united, prosperous, and frater- 
nal people. 



THE SOUTH- AMERICAN REPUBLICS. 

HOX. D. WEBSTER. 

Mr. Chairman : TTe can not be so blind, we can 
not so shut up our senses, and smother our faculties, 
as not to see that, in the progress and establishment 
of South- American liberty, our own example has 
been among the most stimulating causes. That 
great light — a light which can never be hid — the 
light of our own glorious revolution, has shone on 
the path of the South- American patriots from the 
beginning of their course. In their emergencies, 
they have looked to our experience ; in their politi- 
cal institutions, they have followed our models ; in 
their deliberations, they have invoked the presiding 
spirit of our own liberty. They have looked stea- 
dily, in every adversity, to the great northern 
light. In the hour of bloody conflict, they have 
remembered the fields which have been consecrated 
by the blood of our own fathers ; and when they 
have fallen, they have wished only to be remem- 
bered with them, as men who had acted their parts 



92 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

bravely, for the cause of liberty in the western 
world. 

Sir, I have done. If it be weakness to feel the 
sympathy of one's nature excited for such men, in 
such a cause, I am guilty of that weakness. If it 
be prudence to meet their proffered civility, not 
with reciprocal kindness, but with coldness, or with 
insult, I choose still to follow where natural impulse 
leads, and to give up that false and mistaken pru- 
dence for the voluntary sentiments of the heart. 



UNION UNDER THE CONSTITUTION. 

HON. R. M. T. HUNTER. 1850. 

Now, sir, what is there in all this to offend the 
well-settled opinions, or even the plausible preju- 
dices, of any large portion of our fellow-citizens ? 
We do not ask them to establish a new state of 
things, or to create any thing which did not exist 
before ; but to recognize facts and to acknowledge 
obligations created, not by ourselves, but by our 
fathers, when they formed this Union, to which we 
are all attached. We ask for peace and justice. Is 
this too much for one man — for one brother — to ask 
of another ? Can the Southern States exist as the 
confederated equals of the Northern with less than 
*\is ? Mr. President, I am deeply anxious to settle 
exciting questions peaceably and harmoniously, 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 93 

not only now, but forever, if any satisfactory set- 
tlement could be made so permanent. For this 
purpose, I am willing to sacrifice feeling, pride of 
opinion — interests, even, if not of too important a 
character — any thing, in short, which I can do con- 
sistently with the honor and safety of my constitu 7 
ents. But there is one thing I never will do : I will 
nofsacrifice those rights which are necessary to 
protect the liberties of my native State, be the con- 
sequences of that refusal what they may. 



WASHINGTON. 



ENGLISH PAPER, 



The defender of his country, the founder of 
liberty, the friend of man. History and tradition - 
are explored in vain for a parallel to his character. * 
In the annals of modern greatness, he stands alone ; - 
and the noblest names of antiquity lose their lustre 
in his presence. Born the benefactor of mankind,-- 
he united all the qualities necessary to an illustrious 
career. Nature made him great ; he made himself 
virtuous. Called by his country to the defense of 
her liberties, he triumphantly vindicated the rights 
of humanity ; and on the pillars of national inde- 
pendence laid the foundation of a great republic. - 
Twice invested with supreme magistracy by the 
voice of a free people, he surpassed in the cabinet 



94 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

the glories of the field ; and voluntarily resigning 
the sceptre and the sword, retired to the shades of 
private life. A spectacle so new and so sublime 
was contemplated with the most profound admira- 
tion ; and the name of Washington, adding new 
lustre to humanity, resounded to the remotest 
regions of the earth. Magnanimous in youth, glo- 
rious through life, and great in death ; his highest 
ambition the happiness of mankind; his noblest 
victory the conquest of himself. Bequeathing to 
posterity the inheritance of his fame, and building 
his monument in the hearts of his countrymen, he 
lived, the ornament of the eighteenth century ; he 
died, regretted by a mourning world. 



RETURN OF THE REFUGEES. 

PATRICK HENRY. 

I acknowledge, indeed, sir, that I have many 
personal injuries of which to complain ; but when I 
enter this hall of legislation, I endeavor, as far as 
human frailty will permit, to leave all personal feel- 
ings behind me. This question is a national one, 
and, in deciding it, if you act wisely, you will re- 
gard nothing but the interests of the nation. On 
the altar of my country's good, I am willing to 
sacrifice all personal resentments, all private wrongs ; 
and I am sure I should most absurdly flatter myself 



LITTLE SOUTHERN" ORATOR. 95 

if I thought I was the only person in this house cap- 
able of making such a sacrifice. 

Encourage emigration — encourage the husband- 
men, the mechanics, the merchants of the old world 
to come and settle in this world of promise ; make 
it the home of the skillful, the industrious, and hap- 
py, as well as the asylum of the distressed ; fill up 
the measure of your population as speedily as you 
can, and I venture the prophecy, there are those 
now living who will see this favored land among 
the most powerful on earth. Yes, sir, they will see 
her great in arts and arms,her golden harvests waving 
over immeasurable extent, her commerce penetrat- 
ing the most distant seas, and her cannon silencing 
the vain boast of those who now affect to rule the 
waves. 



WOMAN. 



HOX. J. STORY. 



To the honor, to the eternal honor of the sex, be 
it said, that in the path of duty no sacrifice is with 
them too high or too dear. Nothing is with them 
impossible, but to shrink from what love, honor, in- 
nocence, and religion require. The voice of plea- 
sure or of power may pass by unheeded, but the 
voice of affliction never. The chamber of the sick, 
the pillow of the dying, the vigils of the dead, the 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 



altars of religion never missed the presence or the 
sympathies of woman ! Timid though she be, and 
so delicate that the winds of heaven may not too 
roughly visit her, on such occasions she loses all 
sense of danger, and assumes a preternatural cou- 
rage which knows not and fear not consequences. 
Then she displays that undaunted spirit which 
neither courts difficulties nor evades them; that 
resignation which utters neither murmurs nor re- 
grets ; that patience in suffering which seems vic- 
torious even over death itself. 



THE WOMEN OF THE SOUTH. 

THE GRAY JACKET. 

Much has been written about the Spartan women 
of old — much about the noble Roman matrons — 
much about our excellent " f oremothers of the Revo- 
lution ;" but it has been reserved for the women of 
our sunny South to blend the virtues of these hero- 
ines all in one, and present to the world the bright- 
est example of firmness, courage, and patriotism. 
Look at the hundreds of women all over our land — 
delicate ones who have been reared in the lap of 
luxury; who have heretofore been shielded from 
every rough blast ; women who, a year ago, were 
lingering over the ivory keys of their pianos, or dis- 
cussing with their dressmakers the shade of silks 



LITTLE SOUTHERX ORATOR. 97 

which became their complexion best ; and see how 
they have risen, without a dissenting voice, to the 
exigencies of the times. Though accustomed to 
every indulgence that wealth and refinement could 
bestow, in the hour of need they cheerfully aban- 
doned the ease which they had enjoyed, and devoted 
themselves with untiring energy to their country's 
cause. Instead of finding our women at the piano 
or on the fashionable promenade, we found them busy 
at their wheels, busy at their looms, busy making 
soldiers' uniforms, busy in hospitals, busy girding 
up their sons, their husbands, and their fathers for 
the battle-field. Tell me, are they not a noble 
race ? Luxury has not enervated them, adversity 
has not depressed them ! 



FUTURE FAME OF THE SOUTH. 

THE LIFE OF ASHBT. 

The Southern cross no longer gleams out 'mid 
the wild light of battle ; the sword of the van- 
quished is sheathed, and the land is gloomy with 
the harmless sepulchres of our martyred dead. But 
when years and years shall have passed away — 
when the last of the present generation sleep with 
their fathers, and new forms throng the old familiar 
places — when faction shall have hushed, and justice 
hold the scales, then, as bright as day, and as free 
7 



98 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

from blemish and stain, will stand forth in bright 
relief upon the scroll of historic fame the record of 
the South, dearer to the hearts of her children now 
in the hour of sorrow than when, on the march to 
victory, she won the admiration of the world. Pil- 
grims from other lands shall tread with reverent 
steps above the spot where moulders the dust of our 
loved and lost ; while those who are to follow us 
will cherish as household gods the names of those 
who, carving a way through the fiery path of war, 
have written their names where they can never die. 
The principle for which so many laid down their 
lives may not be recognized until their names have 
grown feeble on the tongue of fiiendship, and been 
dropped, like dead silence, from the ear of the 
world. But it will struggle back from the hollow 
bosom that once bled for it, and ascend the heights 
of government. And, when the faithful historian 
shall descend into the vaults of the dead past, in 
quest of traditions of liberty, he will then discover 
to whom the world is indebted for their perpetua- 
tion. 



PROSPERITY OF THE SOUTH. 

For four long years the besom of war desolated 
our Southern land. Her fields were laid waste, her 
cities burned, her stock destroyed, and her people 
discouraged. Many of her noblest sons had fallen, 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 99 

and her hearths were clothed in mourning. But 
her people did not repine. A terrible war had de- 
veloped the sublime energy innate to the chivalric 
Southern heart, and taught the people self-reliance. 
Despite odious laws and military despotism, the 
South has again started on the road to prosperity; 
and her industry and energy will soon retrieve her 
wasted fortunes. 

During the protracted struggle, the South electri- 
fied the world with deeds of daring and self-sacrifice 
that recalled the days of old; she has shamed to 
silence the tongues that grew eloquent deploring 
the degeneracy of her sons ; she has furnished future 
generations an example of courage and patriotism 
that throws ancient Greece and Rome in the shade, 
by splendid persistence and noble endurance ; but 
in defeat, also, she has borne up with a fortitude 
that excites the sympathy of every generous heart ; 
she has suffered without sanctioning oppression — 
has endured without indorsing wrong — has strug 
gled with fortune as she did with force — has borne 
up against want as she did against numbers. Thus 
has the South contributed one of the brightest pages 
to history ; and she is now about to show the world 
the marvels which hands forced to drop the sword 
may accomplish with the plow-share. The desolated 
land begins to bloom like a garden ; and on every 
hand resounds the hum of industry, and the air 
musical with the deep respiration of labor. rG 



100 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

fields are whitening to the harvest, and every thing 
indicates that an era of unexampled prosperity is 
about to dawn upon the South. 



SPEECH BY MB. FLABEUP. 

VALENTINE. 

{The boy speaking this should speak from his seat 
in the rear of his audience?) 

Mr. President : I wish friends in the fore part of 
the meeting would speak up so that friends in the 
back part of the meeting can hear what's going on 
in the front part of the meeting. It is almost im- 
possible for friends in the hind part of the meeting 
to hear what's going on in the front part of the 
meeting. Friends in the back part of the meeting 
feel as much interest as friends in the fore part of 
the meeting ; and it is highly necessary that friends 
in the fore part of the meeting should speak up, so 
that friends sitting in the hind part of the meeting 
can hear what's going on in the fore part of the 
meeting. And, therefore, I say that if friends in 
v the fore part of the meeting would speak up so that 
^ sitting in the hind part of the meeting could 
what's going on in the front part of the meet- 
v would be very satisfactory to friends in the 
rt of the meeting. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 101 



FASHION. 

u Oh ! dear, oil ! tliis world quite strange is, 
Every day brings forth new changes !" 

That's a fact ! Indeed, these changes sometimes 
come so fast that a fellow can't keep up with them. 
This is a queer world, and a fickle world too. The 
proverb says, " "We may as well be out of the world 
as out of the fashion." But to keep up with this 
fickle divinity, at whose shrine so many bow, that's 
the rub. Her changes are sudden, extraordinary, 
and without reason — unless it be to lengthen the 
tailor's bill, or fill the coffers of the milliner. We 
must be continually on the alert or be left in the 
background of old fogy ism. We must hold our- 
selves ready to jump from trowsers like meal-bags 
into trowsers like candle-moulds ; from hats bell- 
crowned to steeples; from boots square-toed to 
boots pointed; in coats we are constantly trans- 
formed from tight to loose sleeves, large to small 
collars, waists long to waists short ; from tails re- 
duced almost to invisibility, to tails that jump down 
well-nigh to the ground. And the dear ladies — how 
mutable are they ! — I mean, of course, in dress. At 
times the lovely creatures muffle to the chin ; anon 
they seem to be coming entirely out of their ap- 
parel. Now with such an amplitude of dress as to 
give the wearer the appearance of a locomotive 
demijohn ; and presto, change ! an entire collapse of 



102 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

its ample dimensions. Bonnets — great, flopping, 
umbrella-like monstrosities, and then a mere little 
wad of gauze, ribbons, and flowers; sleeves like 
balloons, then the arms naked to the shoulders ; 
waists long and then waists short ; at one time the 
figure is left to its own natural development, like 
the Venus de Medici ; at another, appliances are 
used to bring it in rivalry with the body of a wasp. 
Sometimes the feminine head is built up in lofty 
towers and horns with ribbons, feathers, powder, 
and pomatum ; at another oiled, smoothed, and 
plastered tight to the head ; anon fashion waves her 
wand, and horse-tails and hemp-fields are called 
upon to contribute to the cranial adornment of the 
dear creatures; while, from appearances, the ac- 
quaintance of comb and brush has been cut for 
months. Truly the world moves on. We read 
this often in the newspapers and elsewhere. But 
here is the evidence. In all the eras of the world, 
from Helen of Troy till now, there have been no 
such head-dresses as these. O Fashion ! what 
strange vagaries emanate from thy fickle brain ! 
By the aid of dyes, unguents, false hair, braids, 
curls, flowers, cotton, and whalebone, what trans- 
formations can you not effect J 



LITTLE SOUTHERN OBATOIfc 103 



STRONG-xttlXDED WOMEN. 

HON. Z. B. YAXCE. 

In connection herewith, we are upon the skirts 
of another great change, in the habits and manners 
of the mothers of these children. In the new state 
of progress into which we are like to enter, under 
Jacobin auspices, we shall, doubtless, incur the risk 
of having some strong-minded women! Perhaps 
this term does not sufficiently convey our meaning. 
The intellects of our women are sufficiently strong — 
in the right direction — already. We mean, simply, 
those women who, dropping the characteristics of 
their own sex, are constantly raiding into the do- 
minions of the other — for the purpose, it would seem 
— of capturing pantaloons ! Like a forlorn hope, 
they are constantly trying to storm and carry the 
breeches. They are women compounded — not to 
say confounded — English grog-fashion, "'alf and 
'alf," who, somehow or another, have got mixed up, 
strangely enough, with the progress and peculiar 
civilization of our enterprising brethren of the North. 
A school-boy who prayed that to-morrow "it might 
rain just a leetle too hard to go to school, and not 
quite hard enough to prevent going a fishin', " hit 
upon a distinction that eminently applies to these 
fungi of a superior mental culture, since any one of 
them might be described as a little too much of a 
woman to be a man, and a little too much of a man 



104 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

to be a woman ! What useful purpose in social or 
political economy these amphibia serve, I really 
can not see ; but somehow they are either cause or 
effect of wealth and greatness, and I warn my un- 
fortunate male friends to look for them as we pro- 
gress! A colporteur traveling once upon one of 
our noble Southern rivers, stepped ashore when the 
boat stopped at a wharf where there had been great 
excitement about the smallpox. Every body fled as 
the boat drew near, except one old woman, and, 
thinking to distribute more books, he approached 
her and said, a My good woman, have you the 
Scriptures about here ?" " Not jist yet, thank the 
Lord !" was the reply ; " but the way they've got it 
down to Norfolk is a sin !" So we have not this 
social pestilence among us yet ; but the way they 
have it up North is terrible, and it will spread this 
way, if we are not careful. The preventive is alone 
in the hands of our blessed countrywomen. We 
can only beg and implore them to resist the tempta- 
tion, and by all the glorious associations of the most 
noble womanhood the world ever saw, to drive back 
this most odious, vicious, and contemptible innova- 
tion, and to preserve, for their sake and ours, the 
modesty and purity of- their mothers. In this case, 
boasted man can not help ; he can only grasp his 
pantaloons and pray. We can inoculate against 
the small-pox ; we can clean up our streets, and 
fumigate against the yellow-fever ; we can even 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 105 

diet ourselves against cholera ; but there is no re- 
lief in the ingenuity of man against the tide of 
strong-minded womanism which threatens us ! The 
only possible alleviation ever yet discovered — and 
which I cordially recommend to all single males 
present to-night — is to marry as quick as possible, 
and then it may take you only in varioloid form ! 



LIBERTY. 



This is a free country. So say the Fourth of 
July orators. " Life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness," Mr. Jefferson told us, was our birth- 
right inheritance. I don't believe a word of it ; and 
my own short experience convinces me that the old 
chap who wrote the " Declaration of Independence" 
didn't know what he was talking about. He had 
forgotten all his early experience. I never have 
been permitted to pursue happiness in my own way. 
When a baby, if I attempted to exercise my natu- 
ral rights, and indulge in a healthy, lung-strength- 
ening squall, immediately I was tossed about from 
one to another, shaken, rocked, and manipulated 
from head to foot ; if this didn't suffice, Godfrey's 
cordial, paregoric, or some other nostrum, was 
poured down my unwilling throat ; and all this to 
prevent the exercise of my inherent freedom to 
bawl when I chose. 



106 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

As years increased, my liberty was still more 
diminished. If, in the exercise of my own will, I 
chose to throw the cat in the fire, churn the little 
chickens up in the buttermilk, kill the ducks in the 
yard, scratch the children, bite the baby in pure 
love, or do as I chose generally, I found a rod 
always in pickle, ready as a persuasive to convince 
me that I had no rights. 

School-days came, but with them none of the 
freedom which I hoped to find. I dare not say, in 
this presence, what we poor prisoners of the school- 
room have to endure. Cooped up in stupid silence 
for hours, poring over dull books, and racking our 
brains with hard lessons, with an armed guard to 
watch us and enforce school laws. Oh ! isn't it a hor- 
rible encroachment upon our natural rights ? To do 
as they choose may be the inheritance of the wild 
ass's coit ; he can roam at large, where and when 
he pleases, and follow his own fancy; but alas! 
for us poor boys and girls, we are held in perpetual 
bondage. And then, as if to add insult to injury, an 
attempt is made to persuade us all this is for our 
good. Old people tell us we are free to do wrong, 
but must suffer certain consequences ; we can vio- 
late the laws of nature, and taste, and decency, but 
must suffer the penalty ; we are free to throw our- 
selves into the fire, and burn ; into the water, and 
be drowned ; into blackguardism, and become a 
social outlaw — a moral leper, whom society will 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 107 

banish ; we may violate law, and end our days in 
the penitentiary or on the gallows. A fig for all 
such liberty ! It seems liberty means, then, to do 
right, and avoid whatever would injure ourselves or 
others. It is useless for us to contend against the 
world, and the Author of our being ; we can use 
only such liberty as both these powers award us. 



DIALOGUES. 

LEARNING TO READ. 

{For two little Girls.) 

Jane. Pray, Ann, can you read ? 

Ann. No ; I do not like to read half so well as to 
play. 

J. But can you not read at all, then ? 

A. No, to be sure ; what need have I to take so 
much pains with a dull book ? 

J. But will you not be ashamed, and look like a 
fool, to grow up without knowing how to read ? 

A. Oh ! I do not care for that ; for I have got a 
new doll, and some cups, and a nice bed for my doll 
to lie in, and I mean to play all day, and not care 
for my books. Won't that be nice ? 

J. No, I don't think so. Why, you may as well 
be a cat, or a calf, or a kitten ; for they like to play, 
but they can not read — just like you. 



108 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

A. Ah ! but I am not like a calf, for all that ; 
do but look at my hands ; and it can not talk, you 
know, but I can. 

e7i No ; to be sure, a calf has not got a hand. 
But what is your hand good for if you do not use 
it ? You may know how to talk ; but if you do not 
know how to read, you will not know what to talk 
about ; you will grow up ignorant, and be laughed 
at by your companions. 

A, But do you like to sit hour after hour, with 
your book in your hand, and read, read, read, like a 
mope, and all that you may be wise when you are 
grown up ? 

J. I do not feel at all like a mope, as you call it 
when I sit down to my books. I learn a great 
many new things ; read many pretty stories, and 
enjoy very much the information I get about a 
great many strange things. O Ann ! you don't 
know how much you lose by not knowing how to 
read the pretty books now made for children. 

A, But it is so dull, and takes such a long time 
to learn to read. And then I do so love to play. 
Don't you love play, Jane ? 

J. Yes, of course I do ; but I love my books, too. 
I would much rather play little, and grow up to be 
an intelligent and refined woman, than to play all 
the time and grow up in ignorance. Besides, our 
Father in heaven has given us minds to cultivate 
and improve, and we commit sin if we refuse to do 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 109 

what he requires. So get a book, Ann, and let me 
show you how to read ; I am sure you will love it 
very much, when you know how to read. 
A. Well, I will go with you and try. 



SOME ONE WILL SEE. 

bueke's weekly. 

Jam&y. There ! the last one is gone. Now we'll 
have a grand holiday ! And, first of all, we'll make 
a feast. 

Ann, Our dinner is all ready for us, James. 
Mamma fixed it herself. 

J. But I'm not going to eat cold beef, and cab- 
bage, and brown bread to-day. 

A. There is cold pudding, too — plum ; you like 
that. 

J. But I don't want to eat it to-day. I am going 
to hunt up something good. 

A. Well, if you will take me where no one can 
see us, I'll help you get it. 

J. We'll go down in the garden, and shake the 
blue plum-tree. 

A. But there's a man hoeing in the next yard ; 
he'll see us. 

J. Well, then, we'll go . to the orchard, and get 
some apples. 



110 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

A. But there's a man plowing in the next field ; 
he'll see us. 

Jl Well, then, we'll go to the dairy, and get some 
cream. 

A. But there's a man chopping w^ood at the back 
of the next house ; he will see us. 

J. Well, then, we'll go into the closet, and get 
some honey or marmalade. 

A, But the seamstress next door will see us ; she 
can look right into the window. 

J. Well, then, we'll go into the cellar, and hunt 
up something there. No one can see us through 
those thick walls. 

A. There is One who can see us even there. O 
James ! don't let us do any thing wrong, for God 
will see us, if no one else does. Let us go to our 
play-room and be good. 



BEING SOMEBODY. 

Ashton What's the use of being in the world 
unless you are somebody ? 

George, Sure enough, and I mean to be. 

A. When I grow up, I mean to be a lawyer, or 
a doctor, or perhaps a preacher; and to take the 
very first rank in my profession. I shall aim high, 
I assure you. 

G. If we have right motives, we may properly 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. Ill 

aim at distinction, whatever be our pursuits in life. 
But we need not wait until we are men, Ashton, 
before we try to be somebody. 

A. Why a boy can not be great, can he ? 

G. Yes, even a boy may be great ; he may be- 
come distinguished for truth and goodness — for the 
honor that cometh from above. I began this very 
day; and, by divine help, I mean to be somebody. 

A. Began to-day ! How ? What do you mean 
to be, George ? 

G. A Christian boy, and so grow up to be a 
Christian man. I believe that is the greatest some- 
body for us to be ! 

A. You are right, George. There is no higher 
manhood than Christian manhood, and it is in the 
power of every boy to reach that. Every boy can 
not be rich ; every boy can not be president ; every 
boy can not be judge ; but God asks every boy to 
be a Christian — to be his son, " an heir of God and 
a joint-heir with Jesus Christ." 



MODERATE DRINKING. 

(Henry Martin and Harvey Gray.) 

T. S. ARTHUR. 

Henry. Come, Harvey, let us have a drink. 
Harvey. Thank you, Henry ; I do not care about 
drinkingr. 



112 LITTLE SOUTHKBN ORATOR. 

Henry. Nonsense ! Come along ! I shall take 
it as an offense if you do not drink with me. 

Harvey. I hope not, Henry ; for as I refuse to 
drink from principle, I should regret extremely to 
have you take offense because I do not feel at 
liberty to violate a principle. 

Henry. Principle ! What has principle to do 
w r ith drinking, pray ? 

Harvey. In my case, it has a good deal to do with 
it. It is a dangerous habit, and, therefore, I will 
not indulge it. 

Henry. Dangerous ! How strangely you talk ! 

Harvey. Did you ever see a drunkard, Henry ? 

Henry. Certainly. What then ? 

Harvey. Have you never felt afraid of becoming 
such a debased, unhappy creature ? 

Henry. Do you wish to insult me, Harvey Gray ? 

Harvey. You know I do not. 

Henry. Then how could you ask me such a ques- 
tion? 

Harvey. Because it seemed to me pertinent to the 
matter under consideration. The most debased 
drunkard was once a sober man, and dreamed as 
little of danger as you do now. 

Henry. But he drank immoderately. I am a 
moderate drinker. I know exactly how much to 
take. 

Harvey. So did he once, and, no doubt, reasoned 
as you do. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 113 

Henry, Pshaw ! You would frighten me with a 
shadow ! Thank heaven ! I am conscious of apower 
over myself that must ever keep me from any im- 
moderate indulgence in this respect. 

Harvey. Let him that thinketh he standeth take 
heed lest he fall, Henry. 

Henry. Really, Harvey, if any one but you were 
to talk to me in that way, I would never forgive 
him. 

Harvey. To any one else I might not feel at 
liberty thus to speak. With you, I take the privi- 
lege of a friend. 

Henry. But, do you really think I am in danger 
of becoming a drunkard, Harvey ? 

Harvey. I think every man in danger who uses 
intoxicating drinks as a beverage. The only way to 
drunkenness is through habitual moderate drinking. 
Any one who is a moderate drinker, then, is on the 
only known road to drunkenness. He may never 
reach that deplorable condition — he may never in- 
dulge beyond a certain rigid bound of moderation ; 
but for every one who thus restrains himself, ten 
will rush on to ruin. For myself, I confess that I 
am afraid to take such a fearful risk. 

Henry. You are right, Harvey. I am conscious of 
an increasing appetite for drink ; but was unwilling 
to acknowledge, even to myself, that I was in danger. 
My own observation shows that the great army of 
drunkards is annually recruited from the ranks of 



114 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

moderate drinkers. " Touch not, taste not, handle 
not," is the only safe rule ; and henceforth I adopt 
it as my motto. 

'They shake hands,) 



A TEMPERANCE DIALOGUE. * 

Willie. I have joined the Band of Hope, and 
I think the order is letter A No. 1, and tip-top. 

Tommy. What's the use of your going into that 
order? You don't drink rum, you don't drink 
lager even, and you don't chew nor smoke tobacco. 

Bennie. Good for you, Tom. Temperance 
societies are of no use at all. This is a free country, 
and men, and boys, too, should be permitted to do 
as they please. I drink home-made wine, sometimes 
a little beer and cider, and it is nobody's business. 

W. Temperance societies have saved a good 
many drunkards, and prevented a good many 
from becoming drunkards ; so I think they are of 
some use. The country would not be free, boys, if 
its citizens became the slaves of intemperance, or 
if they were permitted to do as they pleased ; 
because some please to do wrong, some steal, some 
fight, some fire their neighbors' houses, some com- 
mit murder. Now, should such persons be allowed 
to do as they please? 

B. No one has a right to do wrong to 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 115 

another; but I refer to what he does to himself. 
If I smoke a cigar, do I harm you ? If I chew 
tobacco, do I injure any body else ? If I drink wine 
and beer, will that make another person tipsy ? 

T, That an't a fair argument, Ben. You 
have convinced me that Willie is right, and that 
you and I are both wrong, and I would like to have 
my name proposed for membership at the next 
meeting. 

W. Good. Glad to hear you say so, Tom; 
and I think if Ben will consider the matter, his 
good sense will lead him to copy your example ; for 
one of the apostles once said, " Do thyself no 
harm ;" showing plainly that a man or a boy has no 
right to injure himself. Smoking, chewing, and 
drinking injure the body and the mind — so the doc- 
tors and ministers say, and they ought to know. 
Besides, the example does injury to other people, 
and no one is safe who indulges such habits. 

JB. I do not know but you are half right; 
and as I like you, Willie and Tommy, (he tosses a 
cigar from his pocket into the sewer?) better than I 
do any other boys about here, and wish to go where 
you go, I believe I will also join. You may pro- 
pose my name for membership. 



116 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 



SCHOOL DIALOGUE. 

STUDENT AND MISCELLANY. 
SARAH. 

Mary, don't you love to join 

In merry games at play ? 
I'm sure, I'd like it in the morn, 

And through the livelong day. 

MARY. 

I'd rather roam throughout the fields, 

In nature's lovely bowers ; 
Or roam amid the wild-wood walks 

On paths all strewn with flowers. 

I'd weave myself a floral wreath 
Of blossoms, rich and fair ; 

With myrtle, mixed with violet, 
Entwined within my hair. 

ANNE. 

Oh ! yes, my lovely sisters, yes, 1 
This would be sweet, 'tis true ; 

How truly you'd enjoy yourselves, 
And I'd go with you, too. 

And once I saw a happy group 

Who met upon the green, 
Adorned with flowers rich and fair — 

It was a lovely scene. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. HV 



ESTHER. 

Mary, don't you love your school ? 

I'm sure that I can say, 
I'd rather learn my books in school 

Than run about all day. 

And, as our teacher loves us, 
We should make this return ; 

Our parents too have sent us 
Away to school to learn. 

And then, I know they're wiser, 
And know what's best to do ; 

I'm sure, 'tis better for us — 
Girls, don't you think so, too ? 

MARY. 

"Why, to be sure, Esther, dear ; 

I did not mean to say 
I'd like to leave my pleasant school, 

To " run about all day." 

ANNE. 

I'm sure we have forgot ourselves, 
Here talking all this time ; 

We must away to school, I see — 
O dear ! 'tis almost nine, 

SARAH. 

Come, let us all be there in time, 
And never break the rule ; 

We'll join in heart, and join in hand; 
Away, away to school. 



118 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

ELLEN AND JURY. 

GOSPEL TEACHER. 
MARY. 

Ellen ! this is a lovely world, 
With every thing so nice ; 

God made it, and pronounced it good — 
'Twas then a paradise. 

ELLEN. 

Yes, Mary, I think 'tis very fine ; 

Such hills and mountains high, 
With valleys sweet to look upon, 

And rivers gliding by. 

MARY. 

1 love to read about the birds 

Within my little book ; 
The lambs that skip, the fish that play 
Within the pearly brook. 

ELLEN. 

I'd rather see those happy birds, 
And hear their merry song, 

And catch the lambs and scare the fish, 
Than read such stories long. 

MARY. 

I love to think about the flowers 
That bloom in fields and wood ; 

God made them to adorn the earth — 
How beautiful and good ! 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 119 



ELLEN. 

I'd rather go, a thousand times, 
And pick those wild-wood flowers, 

Out in the fields, where gay they smile, 
To bless our childhood hours. 

MARY. 

Well, in a world so beautiful, 

How happy should we be ! 
Like playful lambs and merry birds, 

From every sorrow free. 

Both together — hand in hand. 

Oh ! thus we'll be as innocent 

And guileless in our ways ; 
Sweet dreams shall soothe our sleep at night, 

And joy shall crown our days. 



THE RIGHT OF PROPERTY. 

FOWLE. 

George. Come, Charles, let us go and get some 
peaches. 

Charles. Where ? There are none in our garden. 

G. There are plenty in Squire Carleton's. 

C. They are not ours. 

G They will be when we get them. 

C. I am not so sure of that. Taking a man's 



120 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

property without his permission does not make it 
ours. 

G. Pooh ! He has more than he wants, and more 
than he can use up. 

C. Perhaps he means to sell them. 

G. Perhaps he does, and perhaps he doesn't. I 
know he can't eat them all, and I mean to help him. 

C. Do you mean to say that you intend to steal 
the peaches ? 

G. Not exactly. But I love peaches, and he has 
more than he wants, and would not miss a bushel, 
if I took them. 

C. You may say the same of his dollars; but 
would you dare to take his dollars for the same 
reason ? 

G. Peaches are not dollars. 

(7. They are property, and bring dollars. 

G. Not always. See, they lie on the ground, 
thousands of them, and if we don't pick them up, 
somebody else will. So what harm will it do ? 

C. You have no right to do wrong because 
others will do it if you do not. 

G. What do you mean by wrong ? If I take 
what another does not want, or even miss, I do no 
wrong. He does the wrong in keeping it from 
me. 

C. I don't understand it so. What nobody 
owns any one may take ; what is lost any one may 
take, and keep — for the owner; but what is not 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 121 

lost, and has an owner, can not be taken without 
doing a wrong. 

G. How would you get some of these peaches, 
then, if you wanted some ? 

C. I would go and ask the owner to allow me to 
pick up some of them. You have not done this. 

G. Suppose he refuses to give me any. 

C. Then go without. It will not be half so hard 
to go with an empty stomach as with a burdened 
conscience. 

G. Well, I believe you are right, and there 
comes the squire ! Let us go and ask him. If he 
doesn't give us some, he will be as mean as dirt. 

C. There I agree with you. But the property of 
mean men must be respected, or the generous will 
have no security for theirs. 



DOING BECAUSE OTHERS DO. 

EXTRACTED. J. G. ADAMS. 

Henry. Well, Charles, I don't think that sounded 
very well. 

Charles. What do you mean, Henry ? 

H. Oh ! you need not make strange of it. I heard 
you plainly enough. 

C. Heard me ? What did you hear ? 

H. Why I heard you calling poor Jemmy Club- 



122 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

foot names. That was rather mean business, 
Charles. 

C. Well ! but what of all that ? 

H. What of it ? Why, as I just said, it is mean 
enough for any boy ; and I am ashamed of it in 
you. What harm has Jemmy ever done you? 
Why do you wish to ridicule him on account of his 
deformity and lack of brightness ? Suppose you 
were in his situation ? Would such treatment from 
boys suit you ? 

C. I have no desire to abuse old Jemmy ; why 
should you think I have ? 

H. If you did not intend to insult him, why did 
you assail him with such language ? Just tell us 
that? 

C. Why, I heard John Warner calling after 
him, and so I joined in. 

H. Aha! you joined in with John, then; and 
why did John do it ? 

G. Well, you can ask him ; here he comes, and 
may speak for himself. 

{Enter John.) 

John. What news, boys? What's going on? 
Who called my name ? 

JET. Charles and I. We were speaking of Jemmy 
Clubfoot, as he is called, and of the insult offered 
him by the boys. I had been asking Charles why 
he ridiculed him; and what do you suppose his 
answer was? 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 123 

J. Really, I couldn't tell ; except that he liked 
the sport. 

H. No, he denies that. He said he did so because 
you did ! A great reason, to be sure. Now, will 
you be so condescending as to tell me why you do 
it? 

J. You seem to be very inquisitive. Do you 
think there is any harm in having a little fun with 
old Jemmy ? 

H. John, if you were old Jemmy, should you 
like such salutations ? Come now, " own up," and 
be honest. 

J. Oh ! I shaVt dodge the question. I spoke of 
Charley's liking the sport of it. But I didn't mean 
so. I should not have thought of calling after 
Jemmy if William Simpson hadn't put me up to it. 

H. Indeed ! so here is another confession. Now 
we have the weighty reason of the whole matter. 
You do it because others do it ; not stopping to 
ask whether it is right, whatever others may thing 
or do. Isn't that it ? 

J. Yes, I suppose so. But do you suppose I 
wish to injure old Jemmy ? 

H. No, no, John ; I don't think that, but you 
don't believe such salutations to the unfortunate 
are right, do you ? 

X No, I do not. 

H. Well, now let us see if we can not learn a 
lesson here. We should learn to do a deed because 



124 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

it is right, or not to do it because it is wrong ; no 
matter what others do, or what; they do not. What 
say you, isn't this right ? 

J. I think so. 

C. And so do I. 



THE HINT. 

N. BUTLER. 

( William and Henry meeting^ shake hands.) 

Henry. Why, how do you do, Will ? I had no 
thought of seeing you so soon. When did you 
return ? 

William. You don't give me time to answer one 
question before you ask another. I returned three 
days ago, and am glad to be here again. 

JET. How did you like Peterton? Is it a fine 
place ? 

W. It's a pretty large place. 

H What of the people ? 

W. A good many people live there. 

JET. But what kind of people are they ? 

W. Well, some of them are pretty good-looking 
people. 

H. But are they kind, good sort of people ? 

W. Yes, I believe some of them are so sometimes. 

H. Well, what did you think of the family 
of Mr. Thornton, with whom you went to stay ? 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 125 

W. He has a pretty large family, I should say. 
II How large ? 

W. Some of them are larger than you are. 
H. Are they V I thought you intended to stay 
longer. 

W. Did you ? 

H. Why, yes, I did certainly. 
TFT But I didn't stay any longer. 
H. Didn't you ? What was the reason ? 
W. We didn't agree very well together. 
H. Why did you not agree ? 
W. Well, they showed that they didn't like me 
very well. 

H. How did they show this ? 
W. They kept giving me hints. 
H What kind of hints did they give you ? 
W, Such as I could understand very well. 
H. Can't you tell me how they gave you hints ? 
You may have been mistaken. 

W. I can understand a hint as well as any one. 
I was not mistaken. 

H. What did they say, Bill ? 
W. They didn't say any thing in particular, but 
just hinted. 

H. Well, but how? Tell me Bill. 
W. Why, they kicked me down-stairs. 
H. Ah! indeed. Then, when you came away, 
they footed the bill! 



126 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 



A SCENE IN COURT. 

VALENTINE. 

(The Judge and Stove-Pipe Pete, a loafer — Judge 
seated.) 

Judge. Bring the prisoner into court. 

Pete. Here I is, bound to blaze, as the sperits 
turkentine said when it was all a-flre. 

J. We will take a little of the fire out of you. 
How do you live ? 

P. I an't particular, as the oyster said, when they 
axed him if he'd be fried or roasted. 

J. We don't want to hear what the oyster said 
or the spirits of turpentine either. What do you 
follow ? 

P. Any thing that comes in my way, as the loco- 
motive said, when it run over the little nigger. 

J We don't care any thing about the locomotive. 
What's your business ? 

P. That's various, as the cat said when she stole 
the chicken off the table. 

J That comes nearer the line, I suppose. 

P. Altogether in my line, as the rope said when 
it was choking the pirate. 

J. If I hear any more absurd comparisons, I will 
give you twelve months. 

P. I'm done, as the beefsteak said to the cook. 

J. Now, sir, your punishment shall depend upon 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 127 

the shortness and correctness of your answers. I 
suppose you live by going round the docks ? 

P. No, sir ; I can't go round the docks without a 
boat, and I han't got any. 

J. Answer me : how do you get your bread ? 

P. Sometimes at the baker's, and sometimes I eat 
taters. 

J. No more of your stupid insolence. How do 
you support yourself? 

P. Sometimes on my legs, and sometimes on a 
cheer, (chair.) 

J. I order you now to answer this question cor- 
rectly. How do you do ? 

P. Putty well, I thank you, judge. How do 
you do ? 

J. I shall have to commit you. 

P. Veil, you've committed yourself, fust ; that's 
some consolation. 



THE WIFE. 



SCENE I. 



Gerald Glenn. Are you going out to-night, love ? 

Madeline Glenn, {dressed, as for a party.) Of 
course I am, [looking complacently at herself.) 
Don't you think I look splendidly in this magnificent 
dress ? 

G. {with a stifled sigh.) Yes. 



128 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

M. Come, Gerald, make haste ! Why, you 
haven't begun to dress. 

G. I can't go to-night, Madeline. I am not well 
enough. 

M. You are never well enough to oblige me, 
Gerald. I am tired of being put off with such ex- 
cuses. Oh ! come, Gerald, (petulantly^) it is so 
awkward to go alone always ! 

G. (shaking his head.) I thought perhaps you 
would be willing to remain at home with me. 

M. (plaintively.) Men are so selfish; and I am 
all dressed. Claudia took half an hour for my hair. 
I dare say you will be a great deal quieter without 
me — that is, if you have determined not to go. 

G. I will not go to-night, Madeline. 

M. Well, if you choose to be sullen, (speaking 
lightly ,) I can't help it. (Exit.) 

Soliloquy. 

G. O my poor Madeline! You spoiled child 
of fashion, and devotee of pleasure ! How can I 
bear my misfortunes ! Bankrupt, ruined ! I can 
not bear the maddening thought. How must I 
strike her soul to the earth, by telling her that her 
husband is a beggar ! That she must give up these 
elegancies — these pleasures of society; that she 
must be slighted and scorned by those who now 
flatter and caress. How can I bear her tears — her 
reproaches ! It will break her heart ; it will make 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 129 

her wretched. Poor, poor Madeline ! My brain 
whirls; I am well-nigh deranged. I will not, I 
can not witness her agony. Better die by my own 
hand than live a ruined, despised wretch. I can 
not, will not see her again. {Exit.) 

SCEXE II. 

(School promenading over the stage as if at a party. 
Madeline in a conspicuous position. Three mer- 
chants in a group conversing. Madeline overhears 
them.) 

First Merchant. Have you heard the news on 
'change, this evening ? 

Second Merchant. No ; any thing new ? 

First Merchant. Yes, Gerald Glenn has gone by 
the board. 

Third Merchant. What! Gerald Glenn! Is it 
possible? Fine, enterprising young fellow ! Great 
pity! 

First Merchant. Totally ruined; so say Beese & 
McMorken. Reckless extravagance of wife. 

Second Merchant. What can he do ? Poor fel- 
low! I am sorry; but he should have calculated 
his income and expenses better. 

Third Iferchant. Or his wife should. O these 
fashionable, pleasure-loving women ! They are at 
the bottom of all their husbands' troubles. A 
princely income could not support some of them. 
Poor Glenn ! 



130 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

{Madeline turns pale and is ?nuch agitated. Calls 
to a gentleman near.) 

Madeline. Mr. Moore, please step here. 

Moore. Are you ill, Mrs. Glenn ? How pale you 
look ! 

Madeline. I am not very well. I wish you would 
have my carriage called, Mr. Moore. (Exit Moore, 
followed by Madeline.) 

scene in. 

Madeline. Gerald, dear Gerald ! speak to me. 

Gerald, (wildly.) Who are you? Why can you 
not leave me in peace. 

Madeline. It is I, Gerald — your Madeline — your 
own little wife. (Snatches a pistol from his bosom 
and throws it away.) 

Gerald. Stop ! I can't bear it. 

Madeline. Gerald, would you have left me ? 

Gerald, (wildly.) I would have escaped ! Debt 
— disgrace — poverty — misery — her tears — her re- 
proaches — I would have escaped them all ! 
(Exeunt both. Miter three friends.) 

First Friend. Have you been to see Gerald Glenn, 
lately? 

Second Friend. No, I have not. I always dis- 
like to remind, by my presence, a friend of his mis- 
fortunes. 

Third Friend. Misfortunes ! Well, I doubt very 
much whether Gerald, so far as himself and wife are 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 131 

concerned, looks upon his late troubles as misfor- 
tunes. 

Second Friend. Why, what do you mean ? I 
should suppose to lose fortune, social position, and 
the pleasures of society, would have been to Gerald, 
but especially to Madeline Glenn, the greatest pos- 
sible calamity. 

First Friend. It would be to some. But by them 
it is not so regarded. 

Tfiird Friend. Call at their cottage; and you 
will come away satisfied that wealth and society, 
so-called, are not necessary to their happiness. 
Gerald's health is fast improving. Rumor says his 
wife has managed to pay some claims against him ; 
and, I doubt not, his high integrity of character and 
well-known business habits will induce his friends 
to reestablish him in business. I may be mistaken, 
but think his future is bright. {Exeunt?) 

( Gerald reclining in an easy-chair. Madeline, in 
a plain but neat dress, sits sewing?) 

Gerald, {smiling.) What an industrious little 
fairy it is ! 

Madeline. Well, you see, I like it. It is a great 
deal better than those sonatas on the piano. 

Gerald. Who would have thought you would 
ever have made so notable a housekeeper ? 

Madeline, {laughing gleefully.) You are compli- 
mentary. But, if you are pleased with my house- 
keeping, I have my best reward. 



132 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

Gerald. Are you not going to Miss Delaney's 
croquet party ? 

Madeline. No, indeed; what do I care for cro- 
quet parties ? I am going to finish your shirts, and 
you'll read aloud to me. 

Gerald. Madeline, I want you to answer me one 
question. 

Madeline. What is it ? 

Gerald. What have you done with your dia- 
monds ? 

Madeline. I have sold them long ago ; they paid 
several heavy bills, besides settling half a year's 
rent here. 

Gerald. But, Madeline, you were so fond of your 
diamonds. 

Madeline. I was once, but now they would be the 
bitterest reproach my eyes could meet. O Gerald ! 
had I been less vain and extravagant — {checks her- 
self.) 
(Here a few bird-like notes on the piano or flute?) 

Gerald^ ( jocosely.) That's right, little bird, talk 
her down ! She has forgotten that our past is dead 
and gone, and that we have turned over a new leaf 
in the book of experience. Madeline, do you 
know how I feel sometimes when I sit and look at 
you? 

Madeline. No ! 

Gerald. Well, I feel like a widower who has 
married again. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 133 

Madeline, (a little agitated.) Like a widower who 
has married again, Gerald ? 

Gerald. Yes, I can remember my first wife — a 
brilliant, thoughtless child, without any idea beyond 
the gratification of present whims — a spoiled play- 
thing ! Well, that little Madeline has vanished 
away into the past somewhere ; she has gone away 
to return no more, and, in her stead, I behold my 
second wife — a thoughtful, tender woman, whose 
watchful love surrounds me like an atmosphere, 
whose character grows more noble, and develops 
itself into new depth and beauty every day. 

Madeline, (kneeling, her head resting on his arm.) 
And which do you love best, Gerald — the first or 
the second ? 

Gerald. I think the trials and vicissitudes through 
which we have passed are welcome indeed, since 
they have brought me, as their harvest-fruits, the 
priceless treasure of my second wife. {Kisses her. 
JExeunt.) 



DIALOGUE BETWEEN A CITY BOY AND A 
COUNTRY BOY. 

Willie. My dear Charles, you must come out to 
my country home, and I will show you where the 
best fish can be caught in the brook ; and the woods, 
where the squirrels are jumping all around us. In 



134 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

the autumn, it is delightful to ramble clown into the 
wheat-fields, and through the orchard, where the 
ripe apples and red peaches are falling ; and then 
to hear the partridge whistle "Bob White," and 
watch the humming-bird as he hovers over our 
honeysuckle. Oh ! I tell you, Charlie, it is delight- 
ful to be in the country, and you must come with 
me as soon as we have a holiday. 

Charlie. I know well that the country is very 
pleasant, and I will go with you if I can get per- 
mission ; but not till you promise to come and spend 
the Christmas with me in town. I will give you a 
nice little party, where you shall meet all my friends ; 
and we will have delightful music, and plays, and 
dances, and no end to sugar-kisses, and jellies, and 
cake, and goodies. And then, I will carry you to 
our fine church, where you will hear our excellent 
pastor, and to our sweet Sabbath-school, where our 
dear teacher instructs us so faithfully and so plea- 
santly. 

W. Oh ! we have a sweet little country church, 
too, and our pastor is very good to all of us ; and 
God is in the country as well as in town, or else the 
country would not be so beautiful. "We can worship 
God in the country as well as in town, Charlie. 

C. Oh ! yes, I know it. God is everywhere, and 
kind to all who obey him. I think we both agree 
that town and country each has its lovely features , 
and that we owe thanks to God, and our parents 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 185 



whose care and industry have provided so many 
blessings for us. 



ADDRESSES FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS. 

MAY QUEEN. 

burke's weekly. 

A queen elect ! and loyalty again 

Wakes like a blossom to the summer rain ! 

Denied how long ! in dust and darkness hid ; 

As dead as Cheops in his pyramid ! 

Kings in their time and demagogues to-day, 

Baser than swine have cast that pearl away ! 

Yet spring returns, and loyalty again 

Feels the old rapture kindling in each vein ; 

Biding its time, as heaven ordains the hours, 

It waits to crown the worthiest with flowers. 

" CROWN.'" 

Queen of a proud and immemorial line ! 

Upon thy head what sacred dews should shine ! 

Heir to long annals where no stain appears, 

The thousandth rose-bud of a thousand years ! 

With this fair crown, what fragrant memories shed 

The bloom and balm of ages on thy head I 

sceptre. 

A thornless crown ! a sceptre without stain ! 
Peace in thy path, and honor in thy train ! 



136 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

So rule thy realm that when these wreaths decay, 
And the poor robes of office pass away, 
Thy brow may bear more brightly than to-day, 
A crown with Christ in heaven's eternal May. 



QUEEN. 

Amen ! and heaven support me too ! 

'Tis much we mighty people must go through ! 

In mine exchequer not a sovran cent ! 

As poor in purse as a church-mouse in Lent ! 

Not a bright bayonet to back my will — 

Not one black bomb to whistle, " Love me still !" 

I couldn't tax you, were I so inclined ; • 

Nor even hang you, if I had a mind. 

I know no art in politics to shine, 

To prove black "white," and all your nice things mine! 

"What shall I do to keep your minds in awe ? 

Where shall I seek a substitute for law ? 

Queens there have been — and oh ! what blood and 

tears • 

Bear their pale memories down the tide of years ! 
And kings, how many I duly born to rule, 
And duly dead, epitomized, " A fool !" 
Kind spirits guide me for mine empire's ease ; 
Nor let me live or die like one of these ! 
Sweet sisters, help me, as such sisters can, 
To try hard loving for my regal plan ; 
And if we fail, then count me crowned to-day 
The most unhappy of the Queens of May. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 137 



"MAIDS. 

SPRING. 

Love tarries for love ! Lo ! the chrysalid's wing, 
And the bloom in the bud, how they welcome the 
spring ! 

SUMMER. 

Love kindles to love ! Lo ! the birds and the 

flowers 
That blossom and sing to my sun and my showers ! 

AUTUMN. 

i 
Love ripens to love ! Lo ! my touches unfold 

From the heart of the flow'ret the harvest of gold ! 

WINTER. 

Let the summer decay, and the autumn expire I 
Lo ! love at the hearth is a log on the fire ! 

CHORUS. 

Rule by love ! and round the year 

Flowers shall follow thee as here. 

Spring with wreaths and incense rare, 

Summer with her robes so fair, 

Autumn with his golden store, 

Winter, kindliest at core — 

More than these shall bless thy sway, 
Happy Queen of more than May ! 



138 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

SALUTATORY. 

PARLOR DRAMAS. 

Suitable for the Exhibition of a mixed School. 

Our programme we have put in print, 

To give you all a friendly hint 

Of what we each intend to do 

Before the exhibition's through. 

The boys are dressed in Sunday suits, 

With buttons bright, and genteel boots ; 

And all the girls are decked so fine 

That some of them look quite divine. 

But you must not by this suppose 

We've thought of nothing but our clothes ; 

For some of us have studied well, 

And learned to read, and write, and spell. 

It's true, the rules we've often broke, 

We've eat in school, and sometimes spoke ; 

If we did not obey command, 

Our teacher then would reprimand ; 

But to her credit I'll say this — 

She never struck a lick amiss. 

And now before I go away, 

Here is one thing I wish to say : 

We've studied hard for many days, 

Our speeches, dialogues, and plays ; 

If we should fail to act them well, 

When people ask you — please donH tell! 



LITTLE SOUTHERN" ORATOR. 139 



AN OPENING ADDRESS AT A SCHOOL EXHIBITION. 

Dear Parents and Friends : We welcome you 
to this our pleasant school-room, and to these our 
closing exercises. We are glad to see you here, to 
witness the progress we have made during the year. 
Our youth and inexperience will claim your indul- 
gence ; for we can not hope to present the enter- 
tainment afforded by mature thought and the at- 
tainments of age. But we will try to interest you, 
that you may be encouraged to afford us still the 
advantages of our excellent school. 

It would neither be truthful nor wise to assert 
that we have made all the improvement possible in 
the months gone past. The very best of us, at 
times, have failed, more or less, in our duties. Still 
we can appeal to our kind, indulgent teacher, that, 
for the most part, we have tried to do right ; and 
we hope you may see that we have not wasted our 
time in idleness. We welcome you to our exercises, 
then, not as critics, but as friends, who will over- 
look our deficiencies and youthful inexperience, and 
hail every indication of success as a harbinger of 
future usefulness. 

Dear Teacher, it is proper we should gratefully 
acknowledge our obligations to you for your kind 
forbearance and constant toil for our good. You 
have the consciousness of duties well and faithfully 
performed ; and we would now assure you of our 



140 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 

gratitude and love. May your pathway through 
life be strewed with the choicest blessings ; and 
when your work on earth is ended, may you find an 
eternal home with the faithful, and the true, and the 
good ! 

Fellow-students, ever remember that youth is the 
seed-time of life ; that what we sow now we shall 
reap hereafter. Let us then be diligent in the pur- 
suit of knowledge. We have many things to learn ; 
but by daily additions to our little stock, we will 
grow up to be wise and useful 

" Therefore, press on ! and reach the goal, 

And gain the prize, and wear the crown ; 
Faint not ! for to the steadfast soul 

Come wealth, and honor, and renown. 
To thine own self be true, and keep 

Thy mind from sloth, thy heart from soil ; 
Press on ! and thou shalt surely reap 

A heavenly harvest for thy toil !" 



A CLOSING ADDRESS AT A SCHOOL EXHIBITION. 

J. C. PORTER. 

Indulgent Friends, you now have heard us through. 

In kindness we can bid you all adieu. 

The closing hour of school has come at last ; 

How quickly have the moments flitted past ! 

It seems, I know, a dream of sportive plays, 

Yet, parents dear, well spent have been our days. 



LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 141 

Teacher, our grateful thanks to you we give. 
May heaven's blessings cheer you while you live ! 
Go on ; assist the human soul to rise, 
For brighter joys await you in the skies. 

Gay, happy land ! our feelings who can tell, 
As now we part, and parting, say, Farewell ? 
In future years, when life's gay scenes have fled, 
And we, perhaps, to distant lands have sped, 
How will remembrance these bright days recall, 
And wisdom's lessons, treasured in this hall 1 

Teacher and friends, and pleasant class-mates, too, 
We kindly bid you, one and all, Adieu ! 



ADDRESS TO A TEACHER ON PRESENTING A 
TOKEN OF LOYE. 

# R. O. WHITEHEAD. 

Permit us to say, now in parting with you, 
That you always have been to us gentle and true ; 
Most faithful to teach, to assist, to reprove — 
Though scolding sometimes, we felt sure of your love. 

We love you, dear teacher, and mark this event 
By a token of love, which we herewith present ; 

[Presents it.] 
And beg you to feel that wherever we roam, 
In our memories always you will find a home. 



J 

142 LITTLE SOUTHERN ORATOR. 



May joy guide your path where the bright flowers 

spring, 
And the angel of mercy spread o'er you his wing ! 
And when we stand yonder, our last account given, 
May we meet you up there in the bright court of 

heaven ! 



AN ADDRESS TO A TEACHER OX PRESENTING 
A TOKEN OF RESPECT. 

Dear Teacher : The pleasant duty has been 
assigned me by my schoolmates of presenting this 
token, as an evidence of our lasting esteem, friend- 
ship, and love. This is no idle ceremony which 
custom may have sanctioned, but an act prompted 
by true affection. We could not consent to part 
with you without leaving in your hands some me- 
morial, however trifling, of our deep and abiding 
gratitude for your unceasing efforts to benefit us. 
In the days that are past, you have been to us nf| 
only the patient, able, and successful teacher, but 
the kind friend and cheering guide. 

Whatever unnecessary trouble or anxiety we may 
have caused you, be assured it has arisen from no 
disposition to give you pain, but from childish 
thoughtlessness. " Write," we pray you, " our 
errors in the sand ;" and when, in future days, you 
look upon this memento, let it be a pleasant token 
of the deepest love and reverence of our young 
hearts. 



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